Winter Sun
by silverskywolf2272
Summary: Hitsugaya Toushirou is the Captain of the Tenth Squad, and Hyuuga Hinata is a kind and shy girl living in a world savaged by war and death. So, what happens when ghosts from Toushirou's past come back to haunt him, tossing him into Hinata's world?
1. Falling in the Rain

**Okay so this is something I did awhile ago. The story as taken up TWO WHOLE school jounrels!!! I'm up to my third one!!!!!! 8D I'll add some more Chapters later, and Ill start Rika's one later....**

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School Stuff

The fall

**Warning! Bleach and Naruto crossover ahead!! Bleach and Naruto crossover!!**

Slowly, rain began to fall over the forest, swallowing the tall bamboo sticks and grey-green leaves of ferns in a silver-blue haze.

Ducking under the ferns, dashing in between the bamboo sticks, panting an gasping for air, covered in muddy and bloody scars was a boy, around the age of twelve or thirteen.  
the legs of his baggy black kimono were painted with stamps of brown mud, intertwined with small stones and tiny twigs. The white jacket were wore over the black kimono was torn and covered with mud and blood. The silver katana which was slung over his shoulder felt heavier then usual; the sharp points of the guard stuck into his tanned neck, making him wince. The frays of his silver hair were dripping with rain water, swaying before his teal blue eyes and cut-up tanned face. His feet splashed in forming muddy puddles, which were becoming more numerous as the rain quickened.

Did the whole world hate him? Really? If not, then why was he running for his life though a strange wet forest, covered with scars, and with a broken heart?  
J

ust the day before (or, at least he thought it was the day before. After running for so long, he couldn't be sure) he had been a respected young warrior with family and friends that all cared for him deeply--one had even loved him.

But, now, he had nothing. Nothing but pain and despair.

Just then, the forest broke away, realizing a large open space, like a meadow. He broke though the trees, then felt the ground slip away from his feet.  
He fell to the ground with a loud, painful **thud**, landing, face first, into a large puddle of mud, water and stems of grass.

He just lay there, numb and freezing cold--though, once, he had not minded the cold. He tried to move his hand, which lay limp near the center of the puddle, but it stayed still as stone. He attempted the same thing with his feet and other hand, but the only thing that seemed willing to move was the eyes not buried in water, but that didn't real count. Even so, he used what he had.

His eye rolled around in it's socket, searching the plain for any sign of life. There was nothing but a small, shabby looking wooden hut, standing alone on the empty field, sticking out like a flower among thorns. The small, cracked door was firmly closed, and no light leaked though the curtain less windows.  
No help was coming, not that he really wanted it anyways.

_So,_ He thought grimly _This is how it ends. I die alone in a meadow, and then the people who live here, if anyone does, will wake to find a dead teenager on their lawn. Delightful._

He could already feel life seeping away from him like a drying river bed; numbness was only the beginning. Soon his vision will blur, then his plus will slow. Then, with one last deep breath, he would die. And here, in this unknown place, he would not wake up again in another body as others did, but would just disappear like chocolates placed before children.

Never to be seen again.

Just then, a shadow cast over the dying boy. At first, he thought it was just the clouds passing over what little could be seen of the half moon, but that though vanished when he felt a warm, gentle hand on his shoulder. He heard a small _clinking_, then heard a kind, but terribly worried voice.

"H-hay, boy-san? A-Are you okay? P-Please, don't be dead!" The voice belonged to a girl, he was sure. Her voice shook uncontrollably; was she crying? A small sobbing noise told him that that was true.

"Neji-nee-san! Help me! P-please! He's dying!"

He got only one, short glimpse of the girl. Her face was pale, stained with both rain and silver tears. Her eyes were misty, silver swirls, and her hair was cropped short at her neck and black and night. Then his eyes lids rolled shut and his vision faded.

Would this be the last time he ever opened them again?

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**I'll continue soon, if anyone cares 8D**


	2. Waking Up

**Chapter ONE: Waking up**

When Hitsugaya woke, the work was spinning and blurry, as though he'd been dropped into a whirl pool; his head throbbed worse then he thought possible, and sweat streamed down his face like rivers as though he were one hundred degrees, when he really felt colder then ice.

He felt something hard beneath him, and decided it were a bed with a thin mattress, by the feel of it; his hand searched for his sword, yet he felt nothing, nor did he hear the dragon's roars in his mind or see the aqua-haired man in mind, hands a glassy blue, eyes dark and protective. He began to worry, think whoever had taken him here, may have stolen his precious sword; his worries disappeared, though, when he saw the blurry out line of the sword, leaning against a wall, still in its scabbard.

The world was beginning to make sense, now, and with his vision came his hearing; the sound of rain hitting a steel roof echoed though the little room, which, at another time, may have made the place seem somewhat peaceful. At the moment, however, the silver haired boy felt far from peaceful; so many questions were forming in his mind, leaping out at him from no where, demanding answers he could not give.

Where was he? How did he get there? Would he be able to leave? …Who was he again?

Hitsugaya realized with a jolt that, for a second there, he really did forget who he was, had forgotten Hyourinmaru; he frantically tried to remember what had happened the day before, only to find a page of black. He tried and tried, but there was never anything, besides a few friendly faces, all of which slowly turned hostile; in the end, he gave up, not wanting to know anymore.

The things he had seen, bloody falls, blood-chilling screams, furious faces, swords pointed at his heart; he wasn't sure if he even wanted to remember his life anymore.

_Pat…pat…pat…_

Hitsugaya jumped at the noise, and hurriedly sat up, wincing when his head once again began to spin; a hand on his forehead, the boy saw a wooden door, swinging slightly on its hinges, but never far enough for him to see what was outside, besides a curtain of bright light, which, as his eyes adjusted, slowly became dim.

There were people moving around, he knew, but the question was, were the good or bad people? His turquoise eyes narrowed at the thought.

"….in the rain? Man, what was the guy thinking, running around in a storm like that?" A boy's voice boomed, followed by a series of high-pitched barks. "He'll die of a cold in less then a week, strolling around out there."

"Well, he is no longer out there, is he, Kiba?" Another boy snapped in a cold, merciless voice, sending chills down Hitsugaya's spin. "Hinata-sama found him. He's in that room over there, sleeping."

"I thought Hinata-chan asked you to stop calling her Hinata-sama, dattabyo!" Another, happier boy asked, ending his sentence in a soft yell. The boy could've sworn he'd heard someone snicker.

"The Hyuuga Clan may be divided," The cold boy continued icily, his tone coming close to hostile. "But Hinata-sama is still higher then me. I have no right to call her by name."

A snort followed what he had said (probably from the 'dattabyo' boy) but before the discussion could proceed any further, the boy named Kiba shouted 'Shut it!', followed by the dog's crazy barking, ending the boys' battle.

"…..You will wake him soon enough if you all keep shouting," A stern, yet soft voice said, and the silence that followed made Hitsugaya shudder.

"…When is Hinata-chan gonna get back? I'm starving!"

"You should've gone fishing yourself, Naruto; that sore foot is hardly an excuse not to."

The boy called Naruto growled furiously, sounding like a fox. "Shut up, Neji, dattabyo!"

There was a creaking sound then, followed by the sound of shuffling feet, welcoming gasps, and calls of greetings from the boys; a soft, gentle girl's voice mumbled a warm greeting, and then his door was opening, blinding him by the sudden increase in light.

Wincing, Hitsugaya shielded his eyes with the hand once used to help his head, and studied the girl who appeared, blinking in surprise; midnight black hair, cropped around her neck, skin pale, almost white, and eyes….Silver eyes, round and bright, something like glass. He couldn't help but stare at those amazing eyes, and before he knew it she was blushing.

"…Um….Y-you're a-awake…" The girl, this 'Hinata' person, he guessed, stammered, making the boy realize that he was staring; he hurriedly looked away from her eyes, and stared out the door, seeing only more strange, unfamiliar faces. He lowered his hand, feeling confused, as well as foolish.

"A-are you f-feeling o-okay?" Hinata asked as she moved forward, planting a hand on the boy's forehead, his skin hair ticking her exposed skin. "Y-you had a-a b-bad t-temperature before…."

"He looks okay now, Hinata," A boy wearing a dark grey hoddie said cheerfully, his moving lips revealing unnaturally large front teeth. Dark brown hair lined his face, and three red marks painted his cheeks; there was a little white dog sitting on his head within his hood, leading Hitsugaya to believe he was Kiba. Confirming his theory, the little white dog barked continuously, as though agreeing with his master.

"Hmm…" Hinata frowned, unconvinced; Hitsugaya wondered if he really looked that startled, maybe even afraid. He wouldn't admit to himself that he was afraid, afraid of a little girl, and four other boys as young as her, yet he knew he was terrified, just as much as he were confused, even if he would not admit it.

A boy with spiky, sunny blond hair, sky blue eyes, and whiskers on his cheeks strolled over to the door, studied Hitsugaya as though he were on display. The boy wore an orange lump took with a neck of white material, wearing blue sneaker type shoes, and a small poach on his side; _strange stuff to be getting around in,_ Hitsugaya thought wearily.

"Nah….He still looks a bit flushed," The blond, Naruto, by his voice, pointed out; in reality, he was only pointing out the light blush that had appeared on Hitsugaya's cheeks from Hinata being so close. "Maybe he is still a little sick?"

The white dog barked doubtfully, still agreeing with Kiba.

"I-I'm fine…" Hitsugaya muttered, pushing Hinata hand away. "I'm Hitsugaya Toushirou. Who're you lot? And how'd I get here?"

"He doesn't remember?" A boy with black glasses and his hands stuffed in grey pockets said softly, only just loud enough for someone else to hear.

"I-I'm Hyuuga H-Hinata, Hitsugaya-kun, a-and that's Uzumaki Naruto-kun, Inuzuka Kiba-kun," She pointed the dog boy. "Aburame Shino," She pointed to the glasses boy. "And Hyuuga Neji-nii-san, my cousin."

Neji's hair was long and brown, the top hidden by a brown cap with traps that fell by his ears; his eyes, unlike Hinata's, were a misty grey, rather then silver, giving him a forbidding look that even would have scared Byakyua…Who was Byakyua again? Hitsugaya was sure that the name was important….

"You were running though the forest when Hinata-sama found you," Neji said icily, all eyes falling on him. "You had collapsed, and Hinata-sama was the only thing that saved you. You would've died if she hadn't found you."

Hinata looked as though she wanted to say something, but, instead, kept her mouth shut, and studied her hands, blushing; Hitsugaya watched her, considering what to say. What do you say to someone who has saved your life, before you even knew them?

"…Thank you, Hyuuga," He had never been very creative. "For saving me."

Hinata's blush only darkened at his words. "Y-you're welcome, H-Hitsugaya-kun."

As the night went on, Hitsugaya learnt many things, some interesting, others just plan boring; as Kiba informed him that Hinata just about held the whole house together, Hinata had disappeared with a look of concern on her face, pulling Neji out behind her. Naruto said they were probably going to look for Choji, a fat kid with light brown hair and clubby cheeks; they said he'd refused to return home after news of their former Village, Konaha, had been destroyed.

"All the ninja villages were attacked by weird creatures," The boy wearing glasses, Shino, explained as Hitsugaya slipped the tea Hinata had made for him. Naruto waited till Shino had paused before nosily slurping down his steamy hot Ramen, earning an annoyed glare from Shino, though no-one saw it behind his black spectacles. "A man wearing white lead the creatures to our village; he was too strong for even the Hokage to fight, and he's the strongest ninja in the entire village. Or, at least, was. The man killed him, as well as most of the Jouunin. The only whose who survived, as far as I know, are Hatake Kakashi, Maito Gai, and Yuuhi Kurenai. A man called Umino Iruka sometimes visits us when he can, but the creatures are everywhere, and they kill anything they see unless told other wise by their masters."

Hitsugaya frowned sourly. "How long have you guys been trapped here?"

"A…while…" Naruto said in between wolfing down his noodles. "I think….it's been…..a month…or so…dattabyo!"

"It's driving Akamaru and me crazy!" Kiba whined, patting the little white dog's head, who licked his hand playfully. "He looks happy now 'cuz there's a new smell to study, but once he gets used to ya, we'll be whimpering and whining all over again, wanting to go outside."

Automatically, Hitsugaya glanced at the small square window (the only window in the main room, that was really only few meters larger then the room he'd woken in), though he could see nothing though it; to avoid being seen, Kiba and Neji had nailed planks of wood over the glass, leaving only the tiniest gaps to let a little sunlight through, but they, too, could be closed with the black curtains that hung on either side of the window, within the building.

It made the boy somewhat depressed, thinking about how scared they must really be, living in fear of being eaten alive by monsters with skulls for faces and eyes as red as fresh blood; ninjas or not, they could still feel fear.

'Monsters with skulls for heads'; for some reason, Hitsugaya grimaced at the words, knowing that, despite his loss of memory, that these creatures really would tear you apart for pure fun, since they ate your souls, not your body….

_How do I know that?_ He asked himself, puzzled, and then, dismissing the question, he took another slid of the tea. Another question which he had no answer to, so, at the present time, anyway, there was really no point looking for one.

Hinata and Neji came back a few minutes later, the boy dragged a fat kid (Choji, it seemed) by the scarf he wore, ignoring every word of protest the kid screamed, while Hinata tried to calm him down, and it seemed to be working.

Neji did not seem the least bit interested in their found friend, for he merely dumped him on the floor the moment they were inside, and then stalked away down a short hall, turning hurriedly into the room which he unfortunately shared with Naruto (it was either that, or sleep with bug boy, dog dude). Kiba helped Choji into a chair, while Hinata raced away, returning with a small white box, a First Aid kit; it was then the boy realized Choji was wounded, with a deep cut in his leg, as though he'd been sliced with a knife.

"He's been attacked by one of those monsters," Kiba explained as he sat back down, leaving Hinata to do her work. "Neji hates those things so much, but being near them makes him sick. We don't know why, but he says in Curse Mark stings like hell when they come near."

"There was th-three, and th-they were g-gonna kill me," Choji stuttered frantically as Hinata dressed his wound. "Then th-there was t-this n-noise, and they a-all just turned a-around and left!"

Hinata frowned worriedly as she began to rap white bandages around the wound, now closed. "T-that s-sound terrible, C-Choji-san." She mumbled absentmindedly; clearly she saw far more concerned about something else.

"Baka Choji," Naruto muttered bitterly. "Shouldn't have gone off running around. You could've met something worse, like Slave Hunters or something."

Slave Hunters? Hitsugaya's eye brow rose at the words, but no-one seemed willing to discuss the subject.

Hitsugaya did not sleep well that night, his slumber disturbed by vivid dreams of battle and blood-shed; a man with snowy white hair clutching his core, blood bubbling though his fingers, a woman with strawberry blond hair battling three people, all who looked identical, and a orange haired man, flanked by a smaller woman with black hair, and a tall man with long red, facing a man with long, dark purple hair, tied back in a tail that ran down his back.

The smile on his face was amused and cruel, as though he found the thought of being attacked by the three teens was hilarious.

The three lunged at the purple haired man, pulled swords from their scabbards, the front man howling a blood-chilling battle cry that seemed to have no affect what so ever on their opponent.

Hitsugaya never knew what would've happened if they had fought the man with purple hair, for suddenly smoke filled the air, freezing the kids where they stood, and when the smoke cleared, the man was gone.

Then he saw himself, fighting with the purple haired man, the sound of metal meeting metal ringing in his ears as their silver swords met; the man was still smiling, though, unlike before, his smile seemed more like a grimace, somehow darker, colder.

Suddenly, the world was twisting, morphing, and the sky turned back, save for the streaks of red that ran across it; a sharp, burning pain flashed though his body in waves, overwhelming him, making it hard to breath, impossible to stand. His vision clouded and he fell, but not before he saw the purple haired man hunch over, gripping his core, gasping for air.

"_Heh….Well, this was unexpected…." An echoing, mocking voice said, sounding board. "YOU weren't supposed to come 'ere for a while yet, Toushirou!" _

When Hitsugaya woke up, the night still young, he felt drained, more tried then he had felt the day before, as though he had no slept a wink of sleep; sweat trailed down his face, glittering on his brow, and his face felt hot, as though he had run a marathon.

Rolling over, he saw Hinata in her bed, sleeping restlessly, tossing and turning, muttering under her breath, words to quiet for Hitsugaya to hear; Hyourinmaru was laying next to his bed, still in its scabbard, and the boy snatched it off the floor, and pulled out the blade, but only half way, staring dully at the silver metal.

Hitsugaya had been forced to share a room with Hinata, since the rooms were only big enough for two people (even with only two people in there, the room was crowded) and all the other rooms were full, Neji with Naruto, Shino with Kiba. Choji, at the moment, slept in the main room, and his snoring would've kept Hitsugaya up all night, even if he had stuffed his fingers so far down his ears that it hurt; everyone knew that, so they hadn't even suggested that he sleep in the same room as Choji.

He smiled to himself as he remembered Kiba suggested softly that Hitsugaya could sleep with Shino, and he could sleep in Hinata's room, but everyone but he and Hitsugaya had laughed at that, thinking it was a joke, though the way Kiba frowned later told the silver haired boy that he hadn't been.

Sighing, he slid the sword back inside, placed it beside his bed, and laid back, staring at the wooden ceiling, wondering.

What was he gonna do? Wait till his memories return, and then leave? Or just stay with the others, seeing as the world outside seemed to be as dangerous as a pit full of poisonous snakes? And what if he never remembered….?

Grimacing, Hitsugaya forced his eyes closed and pulled the thin blanket back over his head, moonlight dancing off the pale grey threads, and tried to sleep once again.

* * *

Tentacles of smoke twisted as it rose from the burning buildings, a light grey sharply contrasting with a sky of purest red; the remaining Shinigami darted in and out from under the rumble, Rukia, Ichigo and Renji each dangling on another officer's shoulder, groaning each time the reaper's feet hit the ground a little hard, or the speed was too fast for their stomach's taste.

The three, it seemed, were all dying, though none knew why; Retsu, Captain of the Fourth Division, had met an untimely death five days before, leaving her squad, and her Vice-Captain, in a state of complete chaos.

The squad had begun to fall apart, and the death of their Vice-Captain only made it worse, her death coming a day after her Captain's when, after screaming in a blind rage, had raced out to avenge the black haired Shinigami; the whole of Fourth Squad was beginning to collapse, like a brick house standing on wooden stilts.

To their knowledge, the three reapers had been fighting with a cruel hearted man who goes by the name of 'Raven', though none could be sure it was his real name; it was this man who had happily started the war on Shinigami and with his surprisingly small army, he slaughtered almost half of the Shinigami population in the first four months, and had only killed more since. He uses some kind of gas, it seems, which weakens the opponents body once inhaled; they become fragile, like glass, bleeding easily, causing even the tiniest cut to be fatal, for the bloods flow never seemed to end.

He, earlier that day, had fought with Hitsugaya Toushirou, Captain of the Tenth Division, who had mysteriously disappeared after the battle; the only information the Shinigami have is that Raven's injuries could have been fatal, if he had not been found so quickly.

Matsumoto Rangiku adjusted Renji's position on her shoulder when she reached the caves, now the home of the few Shinigami who remained; the caves sat outside the wash white walls that guarded the home of the Soul Reapers, which, at the moment, was almost completely controlled by Raven and his army.

Zaraki Kenpachi, Kuchiki Byakyua and the So-Taichou, along with numerous other Shinigami, were stationed there, fighting for what little of their home was left; while the So-Taichou was absent, Soi Fong was in charge, and she was more then prepared to give up the Seireitei, ready and waiting to give the order which would pull the fighting Shinigami back.

Rangiku placed Renji one a bed of torn and tatter materials, on which he groaned, attempting to turn onto his side, only to flop back onto his back with a sharp gasp; the Vice-Captain's frown grew even harder as she turned to leave, muttering an order for someone to check on the Abarai's back.

The woman carrying Rukia appeared that moment, Yachiru hanging reluctantly off her shoulder, mumbling apprehensively under her breath, and then, seconds later, the man who carried Ichigo appeared, a look of complete horror on his pale face; it seemed that Ichigo's chest had begun bleeding sometime on the trip, and he had been forced to rush him here.

According to the woman, he had been miles back, and had done well on time, but Rangiku was not the least bit impressed; as she examined Ichigo's chest, she saw that the sword belonging to the man had been banging against his rip cage as they ran, and the Shinigami hadn't noticed. She'd had no chance to tell him off, though, for he was gone seconds later, leaving the Kurosaki in the Vice-Captain's capable hands.

"Ah….Gin," Rangiku muttered sadly as she attempted to heal the representative's chest' her efforts were useless, though, for he continued to bleed badly, though the wound was pitifully small. Nothing more then a burse, really. "…Why did you have to go bad? I…I really need you right now…Captain, too."

Where _**had **_that boy gone? The only memory of him at the battle ground was some small blood splatters (now where big enough to be fatal) and some large mounds of ice, showing he had been using Hyourinmaru during in the clash. Near the cliff, however, that forked out, giving any who stood there a magnificent look over the whole Seireitei, there was a strange presences; while standing there, Matsumoto had felt as though someone was standing behind her, chin on her shoulder, breathing in her ear, the entire time, yet when she turned to look, she saw nothing.

She prayed silently that her Captain was safe, and that Gin was safe, despite the fact he was a traitor; he may have betrayed the Soul Society, but, before disappearing, he had apologized for it, and, plus, the man had been her friend since child hood. The feelings she felt for him could not be destroyed so easily.

"Nay, Big-bo-chan," Yachiru said suddenly as she sat herself by Ichigo's body, sitting opposite to her fellow Vice-Captain, whose icy blue eyes were still focused on the man's wound. "Ken-chan's fighting really, really hard, so hard that he's not having fun anymore!! They won't kill Ken-chan…will they?"

Her helpless tone and desperate plea shocked the strawberry blond, causing the green aura around her hands to falter for a moment; Yachiru had never, even said something like that, had never even thought about the fact that Zaraki could really die…It was more then nerve racking to discover that she was starting to become concerned about the giant muscle-man.

"…No. of course not, Yachiru," She said kindly, still staring at Ichigo's wound, unwilling to meet her confused, amber eyes. "Captain Zaraki is very strong. He won't die easily."

"O-okay…Yeah! Big-bo-chan's right!" Her voice rose in an excited scream, and she leapt to her feet, the childish grin returning to her face. "There's not way Ken-chan will die!"

And then the girl was gone, cart-wheeling away as though they were at a theme park, rather then in the middle of a bloody war; despite herself, Rangiku couldn't help but smile.

Her smile faded, though, as she remembered where she was, and who she was missing.

_Oh, Captain Hitsugaya! Where __**are**__ you? Why did you leave?! And Gin…Oh, Gin…_

* * *

On the battle field, blood sailed though the air as body after body fell, each face identical, for each, it seemed were clones; the real man was no where to be found, or, at least, Kenpachi could not see him.

It was for this reason, helped by his thousands of wounds that littered his body, each crimson with blood, that he did not notice him appeared behind him; it wasn't until the man's blade had sliced though his heart did he notice his presence.

Byakyua ordered his pink flower petals to circle though the air, then, as he realized Zaraki's Spirit Energy had disappeared, cutting though what seemed like one thousands clones in a single swipe; the real one, a small man with a fragile looking build, was more then ready when the flowers came, breaking apart to reveal the captain's blade.

It smashed against his own as he raised it above his head to block the attack, and he found himself staring into the furious grey eyes of Kuchiki Byakyua, Captain of the Sixth Division.

"I'm sorry, Kuchiki," He said emotionlessly. "I had no idea the two of you were such friends."

A drop of the dead Captain's blood dripped onto his cheek as he pushed Byakyua away, grimacing when he landed behind the still figure that was Zaraki Kenpachi; the grey eyed man tilted his head slightly to study him, scanning his beaten and blood back, searching for something he was not sure of.

The man's back was deathly still at a distance, but, close up, he could see it was moving steadily up and down as his chest grew slightly with each shallow breath; it did not have the rhythm of a normal, healthy person, though, and the Kuchiki leader feared that, if not tended to shortly, he would surely die.

"We were not friends," He replied coolly, sounding just as emotionless as his opponent. "Merely comrades. Now, I wish to know your name, since you know mine."

"…I do not have a name, for my parents did no give my one, but Raven-sama calls me Edward," He answered icily, as though the thought of telling another his name sicken. "Edward is my name."

"I see." Was the Shinigami's only answer, for moments later he, followed by a stream of gleaming pink Sakuras, lunched himself at Edward, who leapt away in an attempt to avoid the flowers.

The sound of metal meeting metal rung in their ears; Byakyua's grey eyes only became fiercer as the battle went on, becoming frustrated by the fact that Edward was blocking every move without the slightest hint of uneasiness. It was like he knew what the Kuchiki was going to do before he even did it!

Another block from Edward, and Byakyua decided to try something else; his blade was suddenly glowing pink, then materialized into tiny, glowing blades, resembling that of one thousands floated flower petals.

Edward's golden eyes widened for a moment, but the calmness returned to his face soon after; he threw the black haired man back and then made a wild dash, the flowers still close on his tail.

They circled him, trapping him in a tight circle that was slowly growing smaller; the circular walls built, so high they almost touched the sky, spinning none stop as though being pushed. Edward stood in the centre, staring up at the highest point, with a look of completely calm on his face, as though he did not even fear his death was upon him.

On the outside, Byakyua was kneeing by Zaraki's side, whose face was becoming deathly pale; he pushed the heavy man onto his back, grimacing as he saw the man's chest was soaked with blood.

His chest was barely moving, now, and his skin was cold to the touch as the captain began to heal him; the glowing green aura grew brighter and brighter, yet nothing seemed to change. Blood continued to flow freely from the wound, bubbling round his fingers as he desperately tried to suppress it, rasping breaths becoming more shallow and short by the second.

Zaraki was dying, and Byakyua had no idea how to stop it.

Inside the circular cave, pink flowers rushing round as though alive, Edward smiled.

* * *

**NO LONGER BRAIN-DEAD!!! I've been brain dead ever since I came home from movie world [AWESOME theme park in Australia] and I've finally learnt how to write again XD Well, I hope you enjoyed this~ Fighting scenes are hard to write: P**

**Next Chapter:.....not sure yet ^^;…..**


	3. Conflict

**Chapter TWO: Conflict**

The hallway which Ichimaru Gin strolled down was all but empty, his only company the shadows that danced over the sickly green walls and floors, made by the blue fires that dotted the ways; his katana weighed at his side, as though trying to tell him something wasn't right, that he should just turn and run.

He'd had that feeling for a while now, the feeling that Aizen was plotting something so terrible that not even he could handle it; the brown haired man had been disappearing more often recently, escaping into the world that once dominated by ninja, and returning with a childish grin on his face that, despite its cheeky gleam, gave him a ominous look, as though he was prepared to rip any who challenged him in half.

Tousen had asked Aizen why he was so happy, but all he got as an answer was: "I have a new plan, Tousen; a plan which will make both the Shinigami and the Ninja tremble. It's a surprise, though, so don't go asking questions till its time."

A surprise from Aizen was never good, Gin noted grimly as he stalked somewhat reluctantly though the two, great doors that lead into Aizen's quarters; inside, Aizen sat in his white chair, chocolate brown eyes staring at the floating, multy coloured ball that was the creation of Urhara Kisuke.

Tousen stood beside him, unseeing eyes staring into the swirling depth of the crystal, neither had seemed to notice his entrance; it was only when he'd walked right to them did Tousen look up, while Aizen, however, continued to stare into the ball.

"Hello, Gin," Aizen said cheerfully, eyes unmoving, unblinking. "Glad to see you came."

_We should go, _Shinsou said urgently. _Right now!_

"Hello, Aizen-sama," Ichimaru replied, ignoring his sword's pleas. "If ya don't mind me asking, but what're we doing here?"

Aizen's chuckle was both menacing and mocking. "I'm going to tell you my plan, Gin. It's very simple; you see this child," He held up a photo, beckoning Gin closer as he did so. The ex-Shinigami saw a small child there, around thirteen or younger, with cropped short, midnight black hair, skin so pale she looked albino, but what he really stared at was her eyes; wide, round, coloured lavender, her pupils and iris all faded into the silver background as though they weren't even there. "Her name is Hyuuga Hinata. I need her for my plans, for without her, they will crumble, but she is protected. She lived with five other ninja boys around her age, one of which is possessed by a demon spirit, the Night Tailed Fox, according to that Ninja child. He needs to be taken care of quickly. The rest are skilled fighters, though, from what Noritora tells me, they have added another ninja to their group."

"Who?" Gin asked curiously. "Another kid?"

"From what I've heard, yes, but who, or what, I cannot be sure," For once in his entire life, Ichimaru saw Aizen frowning as though he truly were concerned by this fact; he realized with a jolt that the man was not treating their situation like a game anymore. "I need you to go and get this girl for me; take as many Arrancar as you need, and feel free to call for more. From what that Jaryia has told me, the Nine Tailed Fox is more then deadly. We have a tracking device, so they should be easy to find."

"Understood, Aizen-sama." Was all Gin could say; if Aizen was worrying about this….Maybe he really should've just turned and ran as Shinsou had suggested.

"Tousen," Aizen continued calmly, gesturing Gin to leave. "I want you to do this…."

Gin heard no more, for by that time he was already out the door, a worried frown darkening his features; despite everything, he found himself wishing he had stayed in the Soul Society with Rangiku.

* * *

When Hinata awoke the next morning, sweat lined her brow, trailing down her cheeks like fresh tears; her breaths came in shallow gasps that burned her throat; her entire body ached, as though she had been running non-stop for hours, but she knew that she hadn't moved an inch during the night, apart from the tossing and turning that had been caused by her dream.

Her dream….More like a nightmare; she wished secretly that she could wipe her memory of that dream, those terrifying screams, hands clawing at the air as their bodies sank into the earth, searching desperately for something to hold…..

She felt a cold shudder run down her back as she sat up, wiping her sweat away from a trembling hand; looking around, she was Hitsugaya was still in his bed, face up, eyes twitching occasionally, showing he would wake soon. His face was quiet pale, somewhat sickly; his teeth were clenched together, hands balled into white-knuckled fists; a trail of dry, scarlet blood stood still on his face, running from his lip, across his cheek, and down to the bed.

Nervously, Hinata crawled over to his side, arms still wobbling from her own dream, and pressed a hand to his forehead, lavender eyes widening in shock when she found he was, once again, colder then ice; it couldn't be healthy, to be so inhumanly cold, yet he had not died during the night, nor had he woken her to say he felt sick. Panicking, she pulled his thin blankets up further so that they almost touched his chin, and then threw her own blanket over his, hoping that this at least would help him get warm.

She scrambled to her feet, then, turning to leave with a worried frown on her face; she stole one last glance at Hitsugaya, who rolled over, fingers unfolding from the ball positions, and pulled the blankets over his ears. Hinata couldn't help but think he looked cute, immediately scolding herself for it; a faint, embarrassed pink blush crossed her cheeks as she left the room.

In the tiny main room, she found Choji waiting, sitting awake on his bed, chewing absentmindedly on a stale cookie that crunched and cracked, leaving a dirty taste in his mouth; his eyes lit up when he saw the Hyuuga, knowing just how good of a cook she was.

Hinata had been forced to learn how to cook probably after moving in with the boys, knowing that none if them to cook a meal for the life of them; she cooked all their meals, be them big or small, on top of doing more eight tenths of the house work. She was glad that they boys were always going out hunting for their food, like fish or small rodents, sometimes bigger things like young deer or wild pigs; if she had to do that to, she would've died.

"G-good m-morning, Choji-s-san," She said shyly as she headed toward the little kitchen, which was really nothing more then a pathetic sink, a box of ice to keep things cool, and a small fire, sitting in a plastic box where Hinata cooked things. Choji was forbidden to go near these things, since they all knew (apart from Toushirou) that he would eat all their food in about ten minutes, with a mouth like his.

"Morning, Hinata-san!" He replied cheerfully, throwing the horrible cookie aside. "Thanks for healing my wound last night," He patted his bandaged leg gently. "Feels good as new now! And, er, if it isn't much trouble, may I ask what we're having for breakfast?"

Searching though the cooler, Hinata found three large fish, all a far bit thinker then her arm; pale blue scales glittered in the dim morning light. "K-Kiba-kun f-found some f-fish, so I-I guess we're h-having fish."

Drool trailed down the boy's chin as Hinata began to chop the first fish into small pieces, slipping the other two back into the Ice Box; they had to eat as little food as possible these days, with the monsters eating everything they could lay there greedy paws on. Choji was struggling, she knew, and was always asking for food whenever he came here; Choji, unlike the others, was only a temporary resident. He traveled often, now, like most ninja, and was rarely heard of; the only reason they went looking for him was because he said he would be back shortly.

Once finished, Hinata lit a fire, the heat welcoming on the warm-less morning, and sat two fish pieces on top, hers and Choji's, since all the others were still asleep. Once they were cooked, she put them each on their own plate, and, as she sat next to the boy, handed him his plate; while she had slowly, treasuring each bit, the brown haired ninja beside her wolfed it down as though he hadn't eaten in weeks.

The Hyuuga glanced curiously at Choji's leg then, eyes narrowed in concern; she could've sworn last night it had been swelling, its colour changing from pale cream to a sicken purple, but now it looked completely fine, as good as new, just like Choji said.

She couldn't help but wonder. "C-Choji-san…..are y-you sure y-your leg f-feels okay…?"

"Yep!" Choji exclaimed as he leant back, rubbing his stomach. "It's never felt better!"

It was at that moment that Kiba raced into the room, followed quickly by a panting Naruto, Neji and Shino, all of which were soaked in sweat; the front door hung open, swinging on its hinges, letting in a breeze so icy Hinata trembled, though that was not the only reason for it.

All four boys had a look of fury on their faces, with a touch of fear, or excitement,

"Wh-what's wrong?" Hinata asked frantically, leaping to her feet and running to Kiba's side, catching him as he staggered; he was clearly exhausted. "Wh-when did y-you g-guys l-leave…?

"This morning," Shino informed her between gasps; he was leaning against Naruto for support, his legs shaking with effort to continue standing. "N-Neji's curse mark…started hurting…so we went out to look…you, Choji and Toushirou were all still asleep and….we didn't want to wake you…."

"We ran into those…those monsters!" Naruto howled, taking over the story; Shino did not look annoyed, but rather grateful. Obviously it hurt to speak. "There are hundreds of them, some even in human form, dattabyo! They're coming this way, fast! We've gotta get out before they get here!"

* * *

It was the urgent shaking, helped by the bangs and clangs coming from outside the room, that woke the silver haired boy, pulling him out of a dream so sinister he would've thanked the one who woke him one thousand times over; he'd been fighting the man again, only, this time, he'd seen more then just the orange haired man's battle. He saw a big man with a scared eye fighting a smaller one wit one hundred doubles, disappearing and re-appearing at a rapid pace that he'd had no hope of following, and a strawberry blond woman with a large chest and icy eyes crying over a body with light purple hair, wearing a white Haori and a clad-black uniform, like himself.

Opening his teal-blue eyes, he saw Hinata standing over him, her face laced with sweat, her face pale with fear; she shook him fiercely, tears forming in her lavender eyes, despite her efforts to keep them back. One trailed down her cheek, silver as her eyes, and dripped onto Hitsugaya's cheek.

"H-Hyuuga…!?" He began frantically, straightening into a sitting stance, hands on her shoulders. "What wrong?"

"W-we ha-have t-to g-g-go!" She stammered, grabbing his arms with shaking hands and stood, pulling him up with her. "Th-the m-monsters a-are c-coming! S-so m-m-many! Th-they'll..t-they'll….!!!" She couldn't finish her sentence, for her fearful sobbing caught up with her, but Hitsugaya understood it well enough.

Hurriedly, he swung Hyourinmaru over his shoulder, then, taking Hinata's arm, raced out of the room; Neji and Naruto were still there, Neji dragging a frozen Choji out the door behind him, Naruto waiting impatiently for Hinata to wake the new boy.

Upon seeing them, he took Hinata's free arm, mumbled something urgently which ended in 'dattabyo' (of course) and led them outside, where the others were waiting; Akamaru, or at least, that's what it looked like, was no longer a tiny little dog who would ride on Kiba's head, but rather a huge beast, with arm sized fangs, and paws as large as three heads put together. Choji, now unconscious (probably because of Neji's curses and the news of monsters), was thrown atop the beast's back by Neji and Kiba; his body was limp, almost as though he was dead, and his face was a sickly pale.

His leg, though, which that morning had been fine, was beginning to swell, the wound threatening to break though the bandages; Hitsugaya saw Hinata's silver eyes widen in shock.

"C-come on!" Kiba screamed, just as a thunderous roar split the sky; Hinata's own scream was drowned out by the sound. Hitsugaya dragged her to where Kiba waited, beckoning her to get on Akamaru's back; she did so, but reluctantly, thinking that someone else should take her place, but none would willingly ride on Akamaru over her.

She held onto Choji protectively when Kiba ordered Akamaru to run, which he did, after a seconds hesitation, which was spent fretting for his master's well fair; Naruto was by Hitsugaya's side, then, as Neji, Kiba and Shino began to follow, leaping off the ground and into the trees with ease.

"Can you d-" Naruto began, but he was never able to finish his sentence, for seconds later Hitsugaya was leaping though the trees, calling for Naruto to hurry up; blinking in surprise, Naruto followed, gasping as the shadow of a tall, black creature fell over the shack.

It was taller then he thought possible, with a face made up of a bleach white skull, eyes like scarlet rubies; its body was clad black, save for the white spikes that stuck out of its middle, forming a circle that went round its entire body.

Another roar, so loud it was deafening, came from the creature, followed by a aura so powerful that Naruto almost fainted; tripping, he was caught by Hitsugaya, who appeared completely unaffected by the monster's aura, gaining a startled gaze from Naruto.

"You alright Uzumaki?!" He asked loudly, over the sound of the monster's foot steps; Naruto nodded madly several times.

When the caught up to them, Hitsugaya was somewhat surprised himself to find that only he seemed unaffected by the beast's aura, while Hinata only seemed moderately concerned by it; she was too busy looking over Choji's wound, while, at the same time, trying to hold back the tears that so desperately wanted to escape.

He let go of the Uzumaki then, who quickly regained his footing, and raced away to Kiba, who was running ahead of Akamaru, but not before thanking the silver haired boy with a goofy grin; he yelled something at him, something which the boy could not hear as the sound was washed away by another roar, then the monstrous explosion.

A flash of red marked the sky, and suddenly trees were flying though the air, dust showering over them like rain fall; Hitsugaya dashed to Akamaru's side, to Hinata's side, feeling an overpowering urge to protect the girl. He couldn't understand why, but she seemed familiar, even before he had woken and found her watching him; it was a strange thing to feel, but he quickly pushed the emotions away, remembering that they were being followed.

"You okay, Hyuuga?!" He cried, breathing a sigh of relief when Hinata nodded wildly, clutching to Akamaru's dust streaked fur with all her might; Choji's face sat in her lap, eyes still firmly closed, and his leg….It was still awful, and getting worse; the boy wondered secretly that , at the end of this, they may be forced to cut it off.

Suddenly, there was a cry from ahead of them, and, looking up, the two saw Neji had halted, and was hunched over, grasping his head with such force that his finger tips were bleeding; Hinata gasped in surprise as well as worry, but did not move, frozen in her place with both fear and surprise.

Hitsugaya, however, did not stare for a moment in surprise like the rest, but instead jumped to Neji's side immediately, followed by Kiba, ashamed for staying still, then by Naruto. Shino remained where he was, staring at that sky though midnight black glasses.

Kiba, frowning, removed the Hyuuga's head band to reveal his green curse mark, glowing as though lit by a light; one could see the veins in his forehead, made his visible by the physical stress that was being placed upon his body, and his face was pale, almost paler then Choji's, and he was knocked out.

"His Curse Mark…..!" Kiba hissed furiously, cursing the creatures under his breath.

"Put him on Akamaru," Hitsugaya suggested, though it sounded much more like an order. "He won't be able to run."

Order or not, they did it, leaving Hinata with two boys to hold onto now, only one was still conscious, and in more pain then imaginable; he muttered meaningless words under a burning breath, tears breaking though closed eye lids as though he were upset.

Hinata gripped his shoulder as they began running again, his leaf head band rapped around her shoulder; at that moment, there was another flash, only this one was blue, and the trees behind them were suddenly on fire; the fire however, just like the light, was sky-blue, darkening as it got closer to the centre.

"Kido!" Hitsugaya growled, then blinked, confused by what he had just said; what was Kido? How did he know that was…Kido? No-one else seemed to have heard, though, for they were all too busy searching the trees and skies, watching for more of these blue balls of fire; they were joined by red ones next, one suddenly smashing the place where Kiba had been preparing to jump to.

He stumbled backwards, pushed away by the force of the blow, only to be caught by Shino before falling off the branches; the fire before them raged, looking almost alive, as it tore though the branches, tearing apart their path.

All around them the roars of monsters were voiced, followed by their auras, which eventually even made Hitsugaya grit his teeth; as the black skinned creatures made their way toward them, the glowing on Neji's forehead became worse and worse to the point where he screamed.

Abandoning Choji, Hinata pulling her cousin up close, muffling his screams and stroking his head, acting as though she was not scared of anything, despite her shuddering shoulders and quivering lip; the boy's screams faded, replaced by uncontrollable whimpering and sobbing that made Hitsugaya feel like crying himself.

Naruto's teeth were suddenly sharper, the boy noticed, as he smashed them together, eyes wide with fury; both Neji and Hinata were getting hurt, Neji by pain, Hinata by seeing her cousin in such a state, while Kiba had almost died right then and there. Choji was unconscious, with a swelling leg, and they had all dragged a silver haired kid into their mess; everyone was being hurt….

Unconsciously, Hitsugaya reached for his sword, rapping his fingers round the tall hilt; he felt a surge of power, filling him, embracing him, making him feel as though he should be glowing. He couldn't remember ever feeling so strong, but, then again, he could not remember all that much, now could he?

**Master? **A cool, booming voice said, sounding worried. **Master!? Can you hear me? It's me, Hyourinmaru, your sword. Please say something!**

…_You're my sword? _Hitsugaya answered, puzzled. _How….?_

…**Of course, you don't remember anything. It is probably better this way, at least, for the moment. You should remember how to cast Kido, by the way you recognized it jus then. Do you remember how to call me out?**

_..I think so. _He answered, words forming on the tip of his tounge, ready to be called. _…Hyourinmaru, what are you?_

**You truly have no memory. **What the sword's answer, and then, suddenly, he went silent, waiting for his master to summon him; he would not speak again until after that time, though the boy did not know it then.

Hitsugaya had no chance to try and speak with the sword again, though, for at that moment, breaking though the trees, were the monsters; eyes red as blood, skin black as night, skull-faces white as snow, they towered over the humans like living sky scrapers, mouths hanging open as they took in the scent of prey.

"_Ninja weapons don't work again them,"_ Kiba had said, back at the shed. _"Our Justus are useless!" _

They were going to kill them, Hitsugaya was certain, unless he did something….

* * *

Gin watched with an amused smirk as the Hollows surrounded the small group of Ninja, each no more then a mere Academy Student, perhaps only a rank higher; they were all freshman, that much he was sure of.

The Hyuuga girl rode onto of a monstrous white beast, which was growling madly as the Hollows advanced; there was a small boy standing beside the dog, though, wearing some black-and-white get up, with silver hair.

Gin was standing in the sky, looking down upon them like a dog looking over ants, so he couldn't make out the boy clearly, in fact, he wasn't even sure if the kid _was_ a boy; there was a light of confidence around that kid, he knew, as though it knew how to command a team. A purple eye brow rose in question; he knew a child like that, who lead an entire Squad of his own, but there was no way _he_ could be there.

The Soul Society did not even know about this dimension, so it was impossible that the boy was….there…..

His train of thought trailed away when he saw the child leap high into the air, higher then any ninja could, and, pulling out a long, silver sword from its scabbard, which materialized into the air, screamed: "Rain upon the Frozen Heavens, Hyourinmaru!!"

His fears became reality as the ice dragon formed, circling round its master as it grew larger and larger, more deadly with each second that pasted; suddenly, it was rearing, racing toward the Hollows, who were so slow they hadn't even realized what was going on yet.

The ice dragon cut though them all, encasing them in a layer of shimmering blue eyes that's shattered the moment the icy monster passed; in seconds, any sign that there was Hollows there was gone.

"G-Gin-sama!" An Arrancar behind him gasped. "Wh-who….Do you know that boy? Isn't he a Shinigami?!"

"Hitsugaya Toushirou-san," Gin growled bitterly. "Captain of the Tenth Division…"

* * *

Hinata could only stare at the ice dragon that had appeared, circling the seemingly harmless boy who she had saved a mere two days ago; he looked so much stronger, now, standing in the sky, eyes narrowed into deadly slits, commanding a creature from straight from a fairy tale with his sword.

She could feel his aura, too, so cold, yet so strong, and, unlike the others, it did not hurt her, didn't make her want to scream; she sucked it in, embracing the power as though she were hugging a person. It made her feel like she was glowing, made her arms and legs tingle all over, making her want to giggle; Kiba and the others, though, were far from giggling, but rather closer to vomiting.

They had never felt such a strong aura in their life! So fierce, so deadly, so powerful…

Neji's sobbing ceased, his breaths became even, and the glow of his curse mark faded to a dim light, so dim in fact that Hinata had to cup her hands round a spot and press her eye against it just to see; he snuggled up against her, unaware of what he was doing, and was suddenly asleep. Hinata found the blush that formed on her cheeks silly, since Neji was her cousin, and she should be happier to know he was okay.

Suddenly, the icy aura disappeared, and, looking up, the Hyuuga saw the ice dragon materializing, and that Hitsugaya was coming down, jumping calmly though the air, acting as though he did it everyday. He landed lightly on the branch, making not a single sound, yet Hinata felt the air of his landing ruffle her midnight black hair.

She could only watch him, silent despite the hundreds of questions she wanted to ask; she was surprised that he was just as stunned as she was, looking alone the edge of the blade as though he thought it was not real.

He muttered something to fast and soft for the girl to hear, then he turned, eyes as cold as the ice which he had controlled; it was not anger she saw in those beautiful eyes, but rather confusion so strong that it made her swallow. He really had no idea of who he was.

"….You alright, Hyuuga?" He asked after a moment of silence; Hinata, realizing she was staring, looked over at her hands, still patting her cousin's head, her cheeks blazing. "U-um….H-hai…I'm f-fine, H-Hitsugaya-k-kun….A-are y-you okay?"

"Hai. I wasn't even scratched." He answered plainly.

"R-really…?" Hinata found it hard to believe he wasn't scratched, with all that sharp ice circling him like that, but his answer was still the same; he even showed her his arms to prove his statement.

"We…we need to go!" Kiba barked urgently, staring at Hitsugaya with a look made u of pure fear; they all knew the only ones who could harm one of those monsters was someone working with them, since no-one else knew how, but Toushirou didn't seem like a bad person like that…."N-now!"

* * *

"Fall out."

The Arrncar's eyes widened in shock as he listened to his master's word. "G-Gin-sama…?"

"I said, fall out!" They all shrunk away, having never seen Gin in a rage like this; his face was pale with anger, hands balled into trembling fists, eyes open, showing his blood-red irises; Ichimaru never got mad, but merely annoyed, or at least pretended to be. Never truly made; it was clear that he hated the boy more then he hatred Aizen, more then he hated being punished by the brown haired man, and more then he feared death.

"….Hai, Gin-sama," The head Arrancar said finally, pushing his sword back into his scabbard; they had all been preparing to fight, since the Hollows had failed, but apparently their boss had other plans. "Fall out! Return to base!"

And then with those words the Arrancar were gone, leaving the purple haired man alone to watch the children flee into the forest, Hitsugaya in the lead, the dog running alone side him.

How? How was that boy there? How was it possible…?!

Grimacing, Gin glanced at the device which was held tightly in his hand, so slightly in fact that it had almost cracked; it was a small, circular thing, made of metal, coloured white, like the sands of Hecto Mundo, with a small screen in its centre. On it was seven small dots, all a different colour, one of which larger then the rest; the one in the lead was coloured dark blue, like ice, an outline of blood-red, showing that he was a Shinigami. He cursed himself softly, knowing he should have paid more attention to the tracking device placed in his hands by Aizen before he left.

Hinata's ball was purple, out lined in silver, like his own Spirit Energy, which made him frown; someone so small, yet she was protected by such powerful people. He remembered the demon boy, the one with blond hair and blue eyes, and almost changed, if it had not been for Hitsugaya's stunt.

His teeth had grown larger, eyes had grown darker, but all that had disappeared the moment the silver haired boy leapt into the air and activated his Zumpabkutou; Gin closed his eyes, wondering. What was he doing there, anyway? The Soul Society believed Aizen was still preparing for a war, and had no knowledge of the place, so how…

The ex-Captain shook his head, then, knowing there was no use in repeating the same question over and over again; he would demand answers once he captured the boy, before he killed him, of course, for stealing Rangiku from him.

He watched them for a moment longer, losing them in the tangle of trees, then turned disappearing into the air using Shunpou.

In the bushes, a woman stood, watching the silver haired boy as he ran, followed hurriedly by a dog with brown lips, carrying a girl with lavender eyes, and two boys with brown hair, once skinny, one fat.

A sly smile crossed her lips as they disappeared around a corner, and she stood, pale skin glowing in the dim morning light; suddenly she was gone, leaving no trace that she had ever been there.

Miles away, she raced though the trees, heading toward the portal; she had much to tell Raven.

* * *

**Done! 8D That was fast….This was fun to write~ I'm no good at fighting scenes, and sorry if they're a little OC. There is a REASON for that, though! First of all, I haven't read either Bleach or Naruto for a while, and, since there's a war and all, they have all grown up a little, though they're still kids ^^**

**There will be a little Gin x Rangiku, if anyone cares :D**

**Next Chapter:**


	4. Blissful

Chapter 3: Blissful

When Byakyua woke, the sky was bright blue, broken only by a hand full of fluffy white clouds. At first, he felt fine, almost brilliant, as though he had never been hurt in his life, but slowly that blissful feeling vanished; oh, did it vanish.

When the feeling came back to his legs, the grey-eyed captain found himself screaming; the pain was overwhelming, blurring out all other senses. His head stung, his arms throbbed, and his **leg **tingled painfully all over; his other leg, the captain slowly began to realize, was no where to be seen.

That damned Edward had defeated him hands down, using his own power against him; whether or not the golden haired demon had the same powers as Ukitake was yet to be proven, but their abilities must've been similar, from what the Kuchiki saw.

Byakyua suddenly felt ashamed, and held back his bone chilling screams. His legless side had been patched up, the giant, bloody hole bandaged and sealed; not only had Edward defeated the captain, but instead of killing him like most enemies would, he chopped of his leg as some kind of trophy, helped the wound so he didn't bleed to death, then went of his merry way.

He had crippled Byakyua for life.

Damn him to Hell.

Groaning, Byakyua flipped to his side, and searched for Zaraki; if his memory severed him correctly, the battle-hungry giant had been fighting along side him. He was no where to be seen.

Either he had somewhat managed to survive blood lose, and had crept away, believing Byakyua was dead, or had been taken by Edward—along with Byakyua's leg.

With a twitch of annoyance, he realized he couldn't even Shunpou away; both legs were required for that task.

He felt, for the first time in a very, very long time, as helpless as an infant; alone, on a ripped up battle field, soaked to the bone, and robbed on one leg. How could things possibly get any worse?

…..The only way, he realized, was that Kurosaki Ichigo found him lying here like this, which, incredibly, was exactly what happened.

The orange haired Shinigami found him whilst he was passing by, following the Spirit Energy he recognized, but couldn't match a face to it; he had been shocked to find Byakyua in such a state.

He wasn't much better though; his skin was deathly pale, his hair messier then usually, his eyes sunken into his head. As he helped Byakyua onto the one leg he had, the Kurosaki explained his fight with Raven, and how that strange, purple gas had rendered him useless for a few painful days; finding and following Byakyua's Spirit Energy was his way of making up for his massive screw up.

"Ah, Byakyua," Ichigo said suddenly, stopping at the top of a small, tree speckled hill.

"What, Kurosaki?" His voice was soft and hoarse.

"Edward didn't take your arm."

Before Byakyua could reply, Ichigo pointed a dirty finger toward some near-by trees; the Kuchiki, somewhat reluctantly, followed the boy's gaze, and then gapped.

His arm was nailed to a tree, blood red mixing in with bark-brown; there was a small puddle of blood at its base, sinking into the soil, turning it black; it wasn't that, however, that bothered the two Shinigami the most. It was the smell, a smell which one's nose refused to notice until someone decided to point it out; the smell would've driven a starving dog away, even if Byakyua's arm was the only source of food for miles to come.

It managed to drive them away, also.

Raven had always liked the dark; he didn't know why, only that, in the darkness, he could clear his mind, and think clearly. His followers, Edward and the others, seemed to like the darkness, too; they might as well have been vampires, the way they acted.

He could see quiet well in the dark, also, which was why he saw the woman appear some distance away, sweat dotting her brow. Her brown hair framed her face in a wild fashion, and her green eyes had an almost hysterical glow to them, signaling she had discovered something wonderful; Raven smiled in the darkness.

"Welcome back!" He said cheerfully, waving. "You look good."

"I always do," The girl snapped back, losing her pleasure for but a moment. "I found him, Raven-sama. Toushirou-kun is in Dimension Five—The World of Ninjas. He remembers how to use Hyourinmaru-dono, too!" She leapt up and down with glee. "You think that maybe he'd remember us now? The Portal robbed him of his memories; I know that, so maybe, with those damned Shinigami out of his mind, he'll finally…!"

She sounded overjoyed, much to Raven's discomfort. She seemed to have forgotten just what happened back then.

"Perhaps," He agreed softly, less enthusiastically. "Anyway, you must continue watching him; my spirit is too badly wounded to make the trip. Keep him safe, but make sure he doesn't get too care free. He'll lose his touch if that happens."

"Of course, Raven-sama!!" She squealed back, beaming like a five year old. Her Master didn't seem as happy as she would've liked, but he would be, once Hitsugaya remembered them—even if she had to force him to.

She would do anything to please her Master.

"_The Gotei 13 consists of 13 Squads, made up of 70-100 Shinigami, possibly more. Each Squad as a Captain and a Vice-Captain. You, Master, are the Captain of the Tenth Division, and have me as your Zunbakutou, Hyourinmaru. Your Vice-Captain is a woman called Matsumoto Rangiku, who is also the one who got you to join the Gotei 13 in the first place, and saved you from your own Spiritual Power. Her Zunbakutou is called Haineko. _

_The Gotei 13 protect the souls of both the Real World, the Soul Society, which is where the __Seireitei can be found. The monsters you fight are Hollows; spirit who have either been devoured by another Hollow and forcefully changed, or were consumed by so much guilt and sadness that they lost their hearts and transformed. There are three main types of Hollows, Gillian, Adjuchas and Vasto Lord. Anything below that are usually easy to kill, unless there mask has been ripped off and they have been turned into Arrancar, but that's a completely different story…………Hitsugaya? Are you listening to me? HITSUGAYA!!" _

Toushirou fell back to earth with a thud; he groaned softly, angry to have been a woken from his slumber. He immediately felt his sword's rising anger, and hurriedly straightened himself, holding the hilt tighter.

'**O-of course I am, Hyourinmaru-san.'**

The ice dragon snarled. _'Hyourinmaru…__**SAN?**_" His tone of voice was more then threatening.

'**Er, I mean, Hyourinmaru.'**

'_Okay then..." _The dragon did not sound convinced. _'Then what is the Gotei 13?" _

'**T-that's, um….the Gotei 13…..ah…."**

Hyourinmaru would've smacked the boy over the head if he hadn't been a spirit sealed within a sword, so he decided to yell like crazy in the boy's head until he begged him to stop as punishment.

Kiba was close by, nibbling on some cooked fish on a stick with Naruto, and glanced awkwardly at Hitsugaya as he clutched his head, shaking it make and fourth and begging an unseen person to stop screaming.

Naruto snickered beside him, but was silenced by a cruel gaze from Neji, who was sitting beside him; the Uzumaki fell silent, hurriedly facing away from the boy's icy stare.

Neji was now seemed convinced that Hitsugaya should, and always should have, been treated like an enemy, since the fight with the Hollows went down seven days ago. In that time, Hitsugaya had explained as much as he understood about his present situation, and how the sword's 'Reign over the Frosted Heavens' had just slipped onto his tongue. Hinata-sama and the others seemed to believe him, though Choji looked like he was talking to a mad man; Neji, however, was still unconvinced. He should've killed him when he had the chance, the night after the fight, after Hitsugaya had explained a small amount of what they knew now before passing out from exhaustion; it would've been so easy, just a quick, swift cut to his throat and it all would've been over…

But Hinata-sama had forbid it.

Once the war began and Hinata's father was murdered, Hinata grew an unshakable back-bone that had taken the Hyuuga Clan by storm; she had always had a strong will, but it had been buried beneath layer after layer of abuse and hurt feelings. Only after her father's life spark blinked out did she realize that, for once in her life, she was free to do as she wished. Nothing she said could be held against her after his death—she was the leader of the Hyuuga Clan.

She had gotten most of the Clan out of Kohona safely, and then had split them into groups; it was one of the Elders who suggested that Neji go with Hinata. He vowed to follow any order she gave him, even if it went against everything he knew; she was, after all, the leader of the Hyuuga Clan.

And Hinata had caught him creeping towards Toushirou's limp body, caught and had forbid him from touching the silver haired boy, no hair or hide of him. Neji had wanted to attack her when she had given him that order, holding her finger before him like she was his mother. He had defeated her once, and he was sure he could do it again, even if she had had a tremendous power boast in the last two years.

But he had sworn on the blood of the Outer Branch that he wound follow her orders.

And so Toushirou lived on. For the moment, anyway….

Toushirou suddenly let out a painful howl, and threw his sword at the nearest stone; its blade it the grey rock with a loud 'clang'. _That _just the inpatient bastard up!

Kiba and Naruto both leapt up in surprise, while Neji merely glanced at the teal eyed boy, hoping he could his hatful message.

He didn't; Toushirou was too busy massaging his head, which hurt so much he wondered why it didn't split in two. That damn dragon….he'd lost his memories, for crying out loud! How was he supposed to remember all this stuff? He had trouble remembering the names of planets Hyuuga and Uzumaki had showed him, let alone what this Gotei 13 crap was!

Slowly, his temper settled itself, and, reluctantly, he stormed over to fetch his sword. Hyourinmaru didn't scream as he had expected to, but instead said 'That's enough for today' in a rather embarrassed voice, then crept out of Hitsugaya's reach (not that he was trying very hard to find him, anyway).

"…What was that all about?" Kiba demanded, curious.

"Hyourinmaru wasn't satisfied at the amount I'd learned—or could remember, at least." Toushirou shrugged. "I liked it better when it couldn't talk."

That resulted in a mental slap in the face that neither Ninja could see, for they just smirked at Hitsugaya's remark, and then invited him over for some fish. Toushirou, rubbing his stinging cheek, stalked over to sit with the other three.

As he chewed on his fish, he thought back to what the ill-tempered dragon had said: 'You, Master, are the Captain of the Tenth Division.' Captain of the Tenth Division, huh? It sounded too much of an important title to give to a child like him. Who would listen to a thirteen year old kid giving orders, anyway? He wondered if this Matsumoto person would, and found himself smiling; somewhere, deep down, he knew she listened the most.

Shino, Choji and Hinata chose that moment to return, carrying baskets of berries and fruits along with them; Hinata smiling warmly when she saw them, and, amazingly, loosened her grip on the heavy basket to wave. Hinata sure had gotten strong over the course of the war.

Choji's leg was good as new now, something he would let no-one forgot; he didn't like being a burden, because clearly he thought himself quiet strong, which, according to Naruto, was actually nothing but the truth. Choji really was strong, and there was nothing a strong ninja hated more then being a burden to someone else. Whenever Hinata asked him to take it easy in that soft, concerned voice of hers, he'd shake the warning off with a flick of his chubby cheeks, exclaimed that he was a fine.

Choji purposely went with Hinata and Shino to collect berries to further prove his point true; while Hinata had seemed concerned, Shino hadn't commented on the subject, and had left to go berry picking with his mouth sealed shut behind the blue fabric of his jacket.

Naruto and Choji immediately leapt into the berries the trio had collected the moment they had been set down, though a few were missing from Choji's already; Kiba laughed, while Toushirou rolled his eyes in an amused fashion. Neji remained unmoved.

Hinata, smiling only because she couldn't help it, attempted to shoo them away, but was too timid to do so, especially with one of the berry-eaters being Naruto-kun. Torn, she told them not to eat to much, or they would have trouble afterwards.

Hitsugaya didn't take Hinata's soft threat seriously, and she didn't like she did either, but the glare Neji sent them told a completely different story; sensing this, the two berry-hungry Ninja agreed not even to eat half of the basket they were fighting over in shaky voices.

Life had been like that for the last five days, peaceful, blissful and quiet—no attacks, not illnesses, not misfortunate. It was almost like being on vacation, expect for Neji, who was always on edge.

Toushirou hoped it would remain this way for a long time to follow; it would give him a chance to learn a little more about his powers, and learn to control them _all over again_, and, perhaps, even get on Neji's good side. the Hyuuga boy didn't seem to like him, no matter which way he looked at it; Neji's gaze was almost never friendly, but it seemed almost, no, really was hostile when he looked at Toushirou. He hated it, being hated; it wasn't a nice feeling.

It was that afternoon, which the blissful week came to a bone-chilling end in the most terrible way.

Shino decided, that evening, that he would go for a walk in order to clear his head; he said it had been stinging a little lately, mainly because he hadn't been drinking much water, but he didn't say that. He just wanted to be alone for a while, to think through was exactly was going on.

He stalked away from the camp site along, Hinata's gaze following him into the darkness of the forest until he could no longer be seen.

There were an amazing amount of insects living near the river, Shino found, when he stumbled among the sky-blue snake of water that supplied them with water. he had never actually been there, he realized, because Hinata and Choji were always the ones going off and collecting things like this. He and the others were left to collecting food, since Hinata couldn't bare to kill an animal, and she wouldn't allow Choji to go.

It was a nice afternoon, with a warm breeze and a pink sky; a few fire flies had already awakened, and were skimming across the water, their bright yellow bodies reflecting in the water, looking like living Christmas Lights. He couldn't help but smile at the beautiful scene.

The edge of the river was boarded with grey sand, almost like a beach, and was a short distance from the forest, so Shino stood in a completely treeless area. Sounds echoed here.

He wasn't sure what alerted him to the other person's presences, but he did, and turned swiftly round to glare into the forest behind him, eyes narrowed behind black sun glasses. He waited a moment, and then saw what confirmed his theory; a leaf fluttering toward the ground was tipped to its side my unnatural movement, a movement that probably wouldn't have been picked up by even the keenest ninja.

"Who's there?!" He demanded of the forest, taking on a defensive pose. His left hand searched for his weapon back; he could only hope the person was in fact a person, not a Hollow, who couldn't be affected by a Ninjas weapons nor their Jutsus. Their master had put some kind of spell on them, so any physical weapon passed right through them—the only way to kill one was to fight them with Spirit-Type Jutsus, which was something Shino did not know or had even heard of until the war started.

His answer was a knife aimed at his head. Shino, suddenly alert, flicked his head to the side and let it guild past his ear. More came, Shirican this time, and the Ninja was forced to move; he raced up the beach, throwing a knife to where he figured the attack was coming from. He obvious didn't make his mark, for he heard a chuckle, and heard, no sensed, his opponent's sure feet following him up the small beach.

Soon there was dirt under his feet again, and the boy took to the air. He landed softly on a tree branch as thick as his body, and waited for his enemy to show them-self. A flash of black warned him to move before the Shirican sliced through the wood he had just been standing on. He landed on a thinner branch, closer to the water, and concealed himself in the shadow, waiting. Keen eyes watching, he pin-pointed the enemy after a few moments of sliced, leapt out and threw his own Shirican in there direction. A groan, followed by blood was Shino's answer.

He disappeared, then re-appeared, hoping to catch his attack, but they had already disappeared themselves, leaving a trail of blood behind. Shino's eyes narrowed behind his round spectacles.

It was few moments before he heard the crackling, but was too late to react when the Paper Bomb went off.

The green eyed woman watched as the Bug-Boy went up in flames, along with the tree he'd been standing on; sparks filled the air, and a heat so intense that the woman hissed. She threw herself back in an attempt to escape the fire's heat, and then went on her way.

She was interested to see how Toushirou reacted to his friend's death, and such a pathetic death at that; it was _his _own fault, though, becoming slack just because she had protected them from danger for a week. She kicked off another branch as she smirked, thinking of all the Hollows who had been perusing the children, only to die by her hand.

And all for her Master.

Aburame Shino had died for her Master.

She almost stopped to dance in delight when she thought of how happy her Master would be when she brought her next report, updating on Hitsugaya Toushirou-kun's life was going. He did love hearing about little Toushirou.

She wouldn't tell him it was _her _who brought about the Aburame's death, though; he didn't like killing children, though it was his fault so many had died in the Soul Society. He'd punish her for doing something like that, and her Master's punishments were always painful, oh, so painful….

She would do anything for her Master.

When Hinata went to collect water that night with Hitsugaya, who had volunteered to come along, she was worried—very worried. Shino never did come back, and, though she knew he could look after himself, she couldn't help but worry; anything could happen in these woods, and usually they were unpleasant.

Toushirou followed Hinata, alert and ready, watching carefully for any signs of attack; he had been rudely reminded by Hyourinmaru to do so before they left, getting a good flick in the ear when Hitsugaya snapped 'Weren't you having a tantrum?' when the dragon tried to speak. It had only been a joke; dragons had no sense of humor.

As to how Hyourinmaru was able to hit him without really being there, Hitsugaya guessed he was mucking around in his Inner World, or whatever the Hell the sword had called it, to cause him pain.

Hinata smiled at the sky, watching the faint outline of the clouds, and then said softly, "I-it's a nice night." She wasn't stuttering as much as she used to around Toushirou, to which she was extremely proud. Hitsugaya was happy about it, too.

"Yeah, it is." He answered, glancing at the sky.

Hinata, still watching, didn't notice the root coming up on her path until she was already falling over. With a faint squeak, she began to tip, releasing the bucket as she did so; Toushirou acted quickly, flying to her side, and catching her around the waste.

Hinata's hand unconsciously rapped themselves around the boy's arm, gripping his arm till her knuckles went white.

They stood there for a minute, frozen, until Hinata realized just how close they were; he was right **there!! **She could hear his heart beating, the drumming sound ringing in her ears; her face flushed crimson, and she leapt out of his grasp.

"S-s-s-s-s-sorry!!" She stuttered, blushing furiously. "I-I-I-I-I t-t-t-tripped!!!!"

Hitsugaya's mouth curved up in an amused smile; Hinata's face was alight like a fire, and she was bowing like a mad man. He could've burst out laughing if he wasn't so good at controlling his actions.

"I-It's okay, Hyuuga, you don't need to apologize." He said quickly, stopping her mid bow. "Come on, let's get going."

"H-hai!"

The rest of the walk was spent in a silence that started awkward, and ended as a pleasant one; it was pleasant, at least, until they reached the river.

Hinata and Hitsugaya stood, staring, at the charred body lying before them; the ground which they walked on was charred to the bone, black and blotchy. The spot Hitsugaya was standing on suddenly heated up intensely, and he was forced to jump off before his saddles caught aflame. The water was steaming, boiling hot, by the looks of it; guess they could give up on bringing home a bucket of fresh water.

It was Hinata who moved first. She inched toward the body, only to be held back by Hitsugaya's hand, tightened round her wrist. Her cheeks coloured lightly; the silver haired boy didn't seem to notice her reaction.

"Wait," He said coolly. "Let me go first. There could be more bombs."

Hinata nodded, and stepped aside so the teal eyed Captain could walk ahead of her; he watched his feet careful, though he never actually looked down, but Hinata was sure he was. There was an aura around him, a powerful aura which said he had deal-ed with this kind of thing before, and knew how to act. What Hinata wondered was when he had deal-ed with it, and why.

As they reached the body, the Hyuuga suddenly began to feel sick; not because the body was burned beyond recognition—though that played a large part—rather that there were black sunglasses lying a small distance away, glass cracked and coated in ash. The sickening feeling increased when she glanced at the face; it was bold, now, a head of cracking, black-red skin, but one could see the mouth was open wide in pure shock.

She recognized that silent scream of a face.

It couldn't be him, could it?

Her face paled.

It _couldn't _be.

There was no way that, this body, this **dead**, **blackened **body was his.

But Shino hadn't come home in a while. It was deep into the night now (the time when the water was freshest) and Shino had said his walk was only going to be short; it made sense, in the logically part of her mind, that he hadn't come back because he'd gotten into a fight with a rouge Ninja. Perhaps even a Hollow.

It made sense for him to have died.

Unlike Hinata, Hitsugaya knew for sure that the body before them was in fact Aburame Shino, the brown haired, pale skinned bug-boy who had once been part of Hinata's three man +dog team. He recognized the Spiritual Signature, a feeling which was unique to each individual person; Shino's had a strange, shadowy feeling to it now that he was dead, but it was still his.

He wanted to scream, but couldn't. He wanted to go after the bastard that killed him, but couldn't. His body just wanted to stand there and stare.

Suddenly, he found himself remembering a story he'd been told about farmers burning there crops and sending all the creatures, usually bugs, that lived there running—all who fell behind were burned to ashes, an end which Shino had shared. He'd died a bug's death.

He took a deep, shuddering breath before glancing at the Hyuuga; she was leaning forward now, face paler then a winter moon. She was sweating badly, and her eyes were wide. Had she figured out the body below was Shino's? Already? Toushirou grimaced.

"…..S-….S-Shino-k-kun….." Her voice was barely audible. She looked up at him pleadingly, as though she wanted him to say it wasn't so. The answer he gave was not the one he wanted to give, but gave it anyway; it was the truth.

Toushirou nodded.

Hinata's legs gave way. She fell backwards, only to be caught by Hitsugaya's ready arms; he guided her to the ash blanketed ground, where she cried for what seemed like a life time. Hitsugaya, by the end of it, was hugging tightly as she sobbed into his neck; a part of him wanted cry, too.

Seeing Shino dead was one thing, but telling the others about it was something Hinata just couldn't handle.

She would die from grief if she had to say the words 'Shino-kun is dead,' to Naruto and the others, so the moment they returned, Hitsugaya sent her to bed. She didn't argue, and within minutes after having curled up in her sleeping bag, Hinata was out like a light.

Toushirou and Hinata had left while the others were sleeping (as per normal. Hinata liked it when they wakened to cool water, rather then waking, and then arguing over who'd go get it), so he woke them all up, one by one, rather roughly.

Naruto, half-asleep, snapped "Sakura-chan, dirty whore!" when Hitsugaya aroused him, which left the silver haired boy puzzled, and well as grossed out. He decided to kick the blond again, and hoped that woke him up; it did, and he blushed with embarrassment when he realized what he'd said.

They were all just as horrified as Hinata and Hitsugaya had been to learn Shino was dead. Kiba fell to the ground, just as Hinata did, his black eyes wide with grief; he couldn't believe that his best human friend was dead. Akamaru sensed his master's sorrow, leaped into his lap, and licked his chin several times. Kiba began to sob as the little white dog tried to comfort him, and stroked his head, showing his gratitude. It was no wonder as to why Akamaru was his best animal friend.

Choji had broke down into misery-filled wails long ago, despite the fact he had never known Shino all that well; Naruto had begun to cry also, but managed to control himself better then Choji. Neji just stared.

Hitsugaya was shocked, almost sickened, by the fact that Neji could just stare at him like that, and he was indeed staring at _him. _His friend had just died, yet he stared at Hitsugaya like he was a six year old boy telling his big brother a load of rubbish.

He really did think Toushirou was lying, didn't he? Or did he think that the crime of burning Shino to death was committed by Toushirou, the wielder of an **Ice-Type** Zunbakutou? Hitsugaya himself was terrified by fire, though he never showed it, and wouldn't have been able to get himself to use a bomb anyway.

"….Where's the body?" Neji asked as the others began to calm down.

Hitsugaya had been sitting beside Naruto, patting his back, when he was asked the question.

"….At the river, or what's left of it." Hitsugaya replied icily. "I'll take whoever wants to see him there."

"W-w-we n-need to b-bury him," Naruto muttered, feebly attempting to speak through gasps for air and choking sobs.

"We'll do that." Hitsugaya said softly, suddenly caring.

Naruto smiled at him, and Toushirou smiled back; it was forced smile, but a smile all the same.

* * *

The woman watched them bury the Aburame's body in a shallow hole, covering his blacken face with dirt; Hitsugaya and another dog-like boy was burying Shino's body, while the others stood on the side and watched them do so.

The Hyuuga girl's shoulders were shivering, but no tears did she cry.

The green eyed woman frowned. Why didn't she cry? Her friend was dead, wasn't he? Then again, it was considered weakness in many countries to cry, girl or not—maybe she was just trying to look strong.

She crept away then, smiling to herself. Toushirou had reacted well; he hadn't broken down crying, or marched away in a fury, swearing for revenge—two things he had wanted to do badly. He still recognized Spirit Signatures, which was good, very good, considering what kind of Portal he was sucked through.

A Portal of her own appeared then, a small circle of violet light, swimming round in a never-ending circle; it could make someone sick if they stared at it for too long, but she was yet to be sicken by the sigh, for she had once spent a whole hour staring at the swirling vortex, and had felt fine afterwards…..

She stepped through easily, blinded for a moment by the purple lights; she stepped out into a world of darkness, the world which Raven-sama was turning the Soul Society into. She saw her…..'family' standing around, or a few of them anyway; a few waved to her, another snorted, some walked out of the room.

Edward, however, walked right up to her, his face as expressionless as usual.

"Raven-sama wants to see us both," He said icily, remaining unmoved as the girl suddenly let out a squeal, and started jumping up and down. "I have something he wants to see."

Zaraki Kenpachi stared into the dark with a ridiculously large grin on his face; he almost looked like he was in Heaven.

He'd been captured by the enemy, yes, but that also meant he was meters away from opponents of all sorts, and quiet a few that wouldn't bore him like the other Captain's did. Even if they had taken his nameless Zunbakutou away from him, what did it matter? He would rip them apart with his bare hands if he must.

He was being lead down an impossibly dark corridor, with spear points sticking into both his back and neck, his hands bound by a think, black cord that blocked out most of his Spirit Energy.

Go figure.

They paused for a moment, and then pulled the Shinigami Captain along again, spear points pushing into his back, inches away from drawing blood. Kenpachi's grin faltered as he glanced down at the spears he could only just see; how the blood hell where they stopping themselves from running him through? Were they wearing night-vision goggles or something?

"Oooooooohhhh!" A girl cooed suddenly; Kenpachi raised his eye brow, grinning at her ridiculous nose. "You caught a Shinigami, Edward!"

"Hmm." Was his answer.

"Can it talk?"

"He's not a dog, Mariha."

Mariha sighed. "I know that, Edward. I'm not an idiot."

"Could've fooled me," Zaraki snickered, surprising the two. "Oi, any chance you could flip on some lights? I can't see you."

"No chance," The girl named Mariha snapped icily. "Raven-sama loves the dark. There are no lights in this place."

"Go figure. Then how about you tell me what happened to Hitsugaya Toushirou?" Zaraki smirked. "I've been wanting to fight him even since he saved me two months ago."

"Toushirou-kun's dead." The girl snarled. "He died a long time ago."

For a moment, Zaraki was stunned into silence, his grin a distant memory; then he shock himself mentally, and smiled. "I refuse to believe that." He said mockingly. "That brat wouldn't die easily. Too stubborn."

"You're too stubborn." She muttered apprehensively.

"We're here." A guard said softly, not wanting to interrupt his superiors. The punishment was a grave on for angering Mariha.

A echoing creak followed as someone pushed open a door, and the forwarded inside, pulling Kenpachi along with them; he searched the darkness, hoping to catch even a glance of either Edward or Mariha, but the black was too thick for him to see through. He could only hope they were following.

As the doors were closed, his mind drifted back to Byakyua; he remembered Byakyua's scream as his leg was sliced off, the look of horror on his face as he fainted. Edward had healed his wound, and then Zaraki's, who too, by that time, had fallen into coma. He wondered why Edward didn't kill him, seeing they were the enemy, and both could've been killed by a toddler at the time; it seemed like a waste to fight, defeat, then heal and release.

He found himself hoping Byakyua was alright, and had been found by someone; if the Kuchiki was left there for too long, alone and crippled, he end up being killed by a number of things.

Kenpachi, however, had better things to worry about, he discovered, as he was dragged inside to meet the Master.

* * *

**Heh…..Hello again! ^^ Nice to see you all.**

**I've started High School now, and there's a lot going on, so sorry it took me so long…Yeah, I killed Shino, but mostly 'cuz I can't stand the guy, and I don't really know his character.**

**Sorry Shino fans. He dead.**

**I'm struggling to get over writers block and this took me a hella long time to write, so sorry if it sucks XD Hyourinmaru and Hitsugaya aren't getting very well, either XD Shiro-chan needs to listen more. **

**I apologize if the writing is crudy, again. But, still, I hope you enjoyed it. **

**Next Chap…….I'm not even gonna bother putting that down here anymore XD**


	5. Memories

Chapter 4: Memories

* * *

_The small, five--year old boy raced outside the small cottage, literally throwing himself into the air. His spiky black hair flickered in the wind. He landed steadily on his tiny feet, then looked around frantically for the woman whom had called his name._

"_Mama?" He called, staring into the green-leafed trees that circled the small, wooden cottage. "Mama??" _

"_I'm back here, Toushi-kun." _

'_Toushi-kun' spun on his heels, only to see his mother sitting on the poach, smiling warmly at her son._

"_Mama!" He cried, half startled, half overjoyed, as he scampered up the steps and leapt into the woman's lap. She laughed, a high, cheerful laugh that made the young boy's heart sore. His Mama didn't laugh much because she was often bed-ridden with her disease, and it was a once-in-a-blue-moon treat to hear her laughter. _

_The woman ran her figures through his hair as he settled himself in her lap, like a cat on a coach. "How are you feeling, Toushi-kun?"_

"_Great!" The boy exclaimed, proud to say so. "I can run around for _heaps _long without getting tired! Ra-chan can't keep up with me!!" He grinned at the memory. Ra-chan was so full of herself, just because she was a year older then him, and was much prettier. He didn't care about looks, but wouldn't stood up to by an older person, girl or not._

"_That wonderful, Toushi-**gah**!" Mama coughed violently, throwing her head back and gasping._

_The happiness he felt disappeared as the boy was gripped by fear for his mother. "M-Mama?!" He screamed. "A-are you o-okay?! Mama!!"_

_The woman's coughing quickly subsided, and, suddenly, she was smiling again, though a little out of breath. "I'm okay, Toushi-kun." _

_The boy smiled, relived. "Good."_

_At that age, there was no way the boy could tell she was lying._

"_Now, Toushi-kun, I want to tell you something." The woman began, running her figures once again through his hair. They had the same soft, black hair, dark enough to stand out against the night sky. Her husband's was black also, but his shade was dull grey compared to theirs. "As you can tell, Mama's very sick. I may be going away for a while."_

"_M-Mama's leaving?" His voice was hollow._

"_Maybe, Toushi-kun, maybe. Anyhow, I need you to take care of Jyuushi-kun while I'm away. He's such a worry wart, he'll probably faint." She made a face of mock-horror, rolled back her eyes, and flopped her head onto a angle, tounge hanging out the side of her mouth. Toushi-kun burst out giggling, unable to control himself. _

_Returning to her regular form, she continued. "Promise me you'll look after that big idiot while I'm gone—Ra-chan and the others, too. Especially Nara-kun. You know how lonely he gets."_

"_Nara's creepy."  
_

"_Don't say that! Now, promise me, Toushi-kun. __**Promise me**__."_

_The young boy watched his mother for a short moment, then nodded his head wildly. "Okay! I promise!"_

Then the scene changed.

_The boy was walking along on a field of snow, blood spilling out of a horrid gash in his side; he was limping, gasping, covered by both ash from his village, and snow from the crying sky. His once jet-black hair was so chock-full of light grey ash and fluttering snow that it looked almost silver._

'_**Promise me, Toushi-kun. Promise me…" **_

_Those words ran through his mind as he tripped and fell, his vision blurring, his mind fading; he regretted that he hadn't been able to keep his promise. Even after she left for Heaven, he hadn't been able to look after Jyuushi-kun. He hadn't been sick like Toushi-kun or his mother had been, but he'd looked ill all the same._

_He'd tried to commit suicide, the soldiers got him before his own hand could. _

"_S-sorry………Ma…………ma………"_

_And then he was dead._

* * *

When Toushirou woke up, his face was dripping with sweat and his arms were shaking. Hyourinmaru had felt his fear, and had awoken long ago, relentlessly trying to enter his master's mind and tear him away from his nightmare.

Not wanting comfort, Hitsugaya locked the ice-dragon out, not even pausing to feel guilty, sat up, and buried his head in his hands.

It took him a moment to realize the wetness on his face was not only sweat, but cool tears as well.

What the Hell? What had that been about? That dream…so terrible yet amazing. At the beginning, he'd felt light, happy, like he'd no worry in the world, but by the end, he felt like he was drowning in worry and concern—and, above all, sadness. A horrible, aching sadness that made him feel Hollow inside.

After a moment, the boy shock himself. It was just a dream. There were many types of dreams—this had been one of the bad types. That's all…..right?

Toushirou glanced up, and saw that the moon was still high in the sky; there were hardly any stars to be seen, and a part of the moon was covered by storm clouds. Storm clouds. He glared; where had they been when Shino was burnt to a crisp?

They're buried Shino's body about three days ago. Everyone was quiet, Neji even more so then usually, though the hate in his stares seemed to have doubled; Toushirou tried his best to ignore it, but it was hard to ignore an sore that kept throbbing.

Kiba and Hinata seemed to have been affected by Shino's death the worst. Hinata barely spoke, and when she did her voice was thin and almost too soft to hear; Kiba lashed out at people sometimes for no apparent reason, then apologized afterwards, his voice low and apologetic.

Naruto seemed to have recovered a bit, and smiled quiet a bit, trying to raise everyone's spirits. Choji just kept eating and complaining as per normal.

Toushirou's turquoise eyes flickered the fire which they were all sleeping around; it was nothing more then a mound of flickering ashes now, after hours of burning without assistance. Hitsugaya crept over and blew at the ambers, chucking in a piece of wood from the pile beside the fire as he did so. It caught alight as he adding in some leaves, and slowly it grew into a proper fire, after a few more twigs and a couple more blows.

Warmth engulfed him, and he couldn't help but smile, even as he scrambled away, terrified of his own creation; he was scared to death of fire, and was sure he always had been.

It was the mumbling that made him briefly regret starting the fire, fearing he had woken someone up, but was almost relived when he saw it was Hinata who was waking up. She blinked lazily a few times, staring at the fire, then smiled and redirected her gaze at Toushirou.

"G-good morning," She mumbled, sitting up.

"It's not morning yet, Dummy." Hitsugaya grumbled, pointing at the sky. 'The sky's still black."

Hinata followed his figured, and gasped in surprised. "O-oh!" Her cheeks coloured slightly with embarrassment. "I-I t-thought it w-was morning…"

"Dummy."

Toushirou turned his head away to hide his smirk as Hinata glowered at him. She could make some funny faces when she was half-asleep.

"…H-Hitsugaya-kun," Hinata said slowly, forcing him to turn back. "Did you redo the fire?"

"Yeah."

"What w-woke you up?"

Hitsugaya's heart skipped a beat at that question, his eyes widening for a split second; they narrowed again seconds after, and he hurriedly searched for his voice. What was he supposed to say? 'I woke up because I dream about some people I didn't know then saw one die'?

That'd worry her to the point where she wouldn't be able to get herself back to sleep; no, he couldn't say that….

"Don't know," He concluded lamely. He'd racked his brain for a better answer, but it was too tired and worn out to give him anything better. "I think I rolled onto a rock or something…..Did I wake you up?"

"N-no," Hinata mumbled, looking away. "I…I wasn't s-sleeping very w-well a-anyway."

There was a short silence, when Toushirou stared lifelessly into the fire, and Hinata glanced at the starless sky; the silence was broken when Hinata shivered, despite the fire, emotions flicking across her face. She then crawled over to sit beside Hitsugaya, head resting against his shoulder.

His cheeks coloured ever so slightly at the close contact. "Hyuuga…?"

Hinata drew circles in the dirt with her figure as she answered. "….U-um…..C-can I j-just stay here f-for a bit….? I-I'm c-cold…."

He could've snapped 'Then get closer to the fire, idiot,' but decided against it. Instead, he relaxed his shoulder, and let Hinata snuggle up into it. She was tired—very tired. She'd probably wake up the next day and not even remember talking with Toushirou; he smirked at that.

The only times he was ever alone with Hinata was when they were doing a job, or when one of them was half-asleep; not really the best time for talking. He closed his eyes, the light of the fire suddenly too much to bare.

* * *

Whatever it was that made Hitsugaya's turquoise eyes snap back open, and his head whip around must've been strong, for when he did the sky was lighter and the fire's light had deduced dramatically.

He stared off into the steadily lighting woods, watching, waiting, never looking away; he did this for almost twenty minutes, and still felt uneasy, even as he finally looked away.

Hinata was still clinging to his arm, he noticed, but she was still shivering; his feeling of uneasiness dropped a little as he gently broke free of her grip, scooped her up and carried her to where she had been sleeping before. She was icy to the touch (and being snuggled up to someone with a body-temperature which was almost as non-existing as a vampire's hadn't felted much, either) so, out of concern, he pulled off his Haori and wrapped his around her shivering body.

He stalked over to the each of the forest, then, and leant against a tree, folding his arms over his chest. He wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, or, rather, didn't even want to go back to sleep; his worry was being to build again, now that Hinata's peaceful face was out of his sights.

He quickly glanced round and checked on everyone as they slept; Hinata was where he left her, Naruto and Neji sleeping by the fire, Choji muttering in his sleep, and Kiba, half hidden behind Akamaru's giant, snowy-white form.

Hyourinmaru was still lying where Hitsugaya had placed him, where Hitsugaya had rejected him; you could call it that, forcing the ice-dragon out of his head. But he hadn't wanted the sword's comfort—it just about always ended in some smart-ass remark or old-hermit logic speech that took forever to finish. And, quiet frankly, Toushirou didn't even want to know what that mixed up dream had meant.

Sighing, he ordered himself to apologize to Hyourinmaru once the sun rose **(?)**; hopefully the magic sword had gotten a better sleep then his Master.

Hitsugaya only closed his eyes for a second, just a second, but it was in that moment that the hands rapped around his chest, and another closed over his mouth to stop him from screaming.

He fought for a few fiery moment, only to have something stuck into his neck. Then the world began to fade, though he could still hear; a scream, then a yell echoed out from the clearing behind him.

He could hear Choji, loud and hoarse as always, shout two words over and over and over.

Slave Hunters

* * *

"He really got his _leg __**chopped off!???!!!**_"

Rukia's scream of outrage and disbelief almost sent Ichigo running; he'd never seen Rukia so furious and frantic for. Her ocean-blue eyes were so big he wondered how those eye sockets of hers even held them there, her voice was so shrill it hurt, and her knuckles were so white they could par with Ukitake Jyuushirou's hair.

They were in one of the many caves which Shinigami were residing in for the time being, with the Seireitei under attack and all; Ichigo had only just returned with Byakyua a few hours ago, but even if so much hurt and chaos going on, gossip still spread like an out-of-control fire, and within the hour every Shinigami within a ten-mine radius knew about Kuchiki Byakyua and his unfortunate arm.

Rukia hadn't believed it when she first heard, thinking it to be nothing more then a silly rumor, but as more and more people began to whisper about it around her, she couldn't help but wonder if their words were true. She'd gone to Ichigo straight away, demanding an answer—preferably the one where he said 'Where the Hell did you get that idea?!' or something similar.

No such luck.

"Y-Yeah, Rukia, but its okay. Byakyua's going great. I'm going to take him to the Real World to see Inoue, once Mayuri-san can figure out how to break throw the Barrier." He threw his arms up as a defense, reading himself for an attack from on furious midget.

The 'Barrier' was exactly what it's title told it to be; a thick, amazingly strong barrier that that bastard Raven had set up to keep them from going to the Real World. As to whether or not he knew about Orihime's existence and the fact she could bring people—even spirits—back from the dead was unknown; all they did know was that Raven really could set up some kick-ass barriers.

But he'd been wounded; even over a week later, his spirit was still recovering from his fight with Toushirou. The strength of his barrier was faltering in some places, sometimes disappearing completely, though it usually flashed back seconds later.

Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Captain of the Twelfth Squad and Ishida Uyruu's most hated Shinigami, had been banned from the battle field by Soi Fon (acting Commander-in-Chief whilst Yamamoto was not around) and ordered to work our a way to break through the barrier and get either Kuchiki Byakyua over there, or Inoue Orihime over here, or Soi Fon said—and this is really what she said—"I'll Bankai your ass to Tim-buck-to, understand?!"

Ichigo doubted any Shinigami really knew what those last few words even meant, but Soi Fon had spent more time in the Real World then others had had felt like using it.

"His le—hold on, what?! You're going to bring Inoue _here_? _**Here**_?!?" Rukia snarled, immediately snapping out of her funk; she cared for Orihime just as much as she cared for Byakyua. "You can't bring her here! She's too fragile!"

"I said I'd take Byakyua over _there_, Rukia." Ichigo corrected her.

Rukia shock her head. "You know as well as I know that's just stupid. I've gathered that Nii-sama was weaken drastically in that fight from what I've heard, and he wouldn't survive the pressure it puts on your soul to travel between dimensions. He'd die for sure."

Ichigo frowned, wishing that what the raven haired Shinigami was not true. To pass through dimensions meant having your soul crushed, then reformed on the other side. It was an invisible process, and painless, as long as one had a Hell Butterfly with them. They had been designed for that purpose and that purpose only.

The only place this didn't happen, according to Ukitake, was in that place with purple walls that closed in and tried to eat you. Ichigo couldn't remember the name, only that he'd been forced to use it twice when saving Rukia all those months ago.

If the went through the 'Purple Place', the person holding Byakyua could fall behind, and they could both be swallowed; they couldn't go the proper way, because Byakyua hadn't the strength to control a Hell Butterfly, and could be crushed.

Without a Hell Butterfly, the process became visible—and painful. Very, very painful.

Soi Fon had pointed this all out when she'd ordered Ichigo to bring Orihime here, and he had argued. Their argument had resulted with a hit on the head so hard Ichigo had been put back on the sick bed, and had awoken no less then two hours later.

Soi Fon was yet to apologize.

"…I….I know." Ichigo admitted sourly. "But bringing Inoue here…"

"I don't like it either." Rukia snapped defensively. "Anyhow, where is Nii-sama? I want to see him."

After five minutes of direction giving and a little confusion, Nanao, the Eight Division Vice-Captain, stumbled upon the two and said she'd take Rukia there, since she knew where Byakyua was staying.

The two exchanged short good bye-s before Rukia took her leave with the Vice-Captain, muttering her thanks.

Ichigo's amber eyes were glued to her back until she turned a corner, and was gone.

* * *

Aizen drummed his figures along the window-frame, truly puzzled for the first time in his life. A soul couldn't pass through dimensions without a Hell Butterfly or something similar, other wise the soul was crushed, and, though reformed on the other side, the pressure that would put on a child's body—let alone a beat up and weakened one—would be enough to kill them.

He would have died. Yet Ichimaru swore on his pride as a man that his Hollow had been destroyed by Hitsugaya Toushirou, and he'd been forced to retreat to give Aizen the news. He knew very well what would have happened if he'd acted on his feelings, rather then seeking permission; Aizen could to much more then make you see a swamp with his Zumpabkutou.

He could make it seem like you were drowning in one—that was just as much as an illusion as the swamp you see.

Souske glanced out at the barren landscape, a plain which he and his new Arrancar had constructed. There were piles of rumble here and there, the only evidence of a once great village called Kononha—The Village Hidden in the Leaves. Aizen had crushed the pathetic ninja village easily, along with their leader, whose spirit continues to haunt him to this day. Always, whenever the brown haired man was alone, he could fell the Hokage's beady eyes on him, glaring, hating….regretting.

All that did was make Aizen smile.

Aizen looked away from the window, and let his mind drift to that Hyuuga girl. The one that would make his dreams come true. With her powers on his side, no one could stand up against him, not the Shinigami, not few ninja left, not the Arrancar.

He would be God.

But, then again, how would he get here? Hitsugaya was there, protecting here, along with that Demon-child….That ninja boy had said nothing about Hitsugaya Toushirou being there; Aizen would have to call him back for questioning.

The knock that came moments later was expected. Aizen called for them to enter, which they did, as silently and graceful as a ghost.

Tousen bowed his head, hand crossing over his chest, his hair flopping all over the place; Aizen smiled pleasantly, glad to have something to take his mind of Hitsugaya and Hinata.

"Kaname, nice to see you." He greeted the black man kindly. "Did you do as I asked?"

"Of course, Aizen-sama." Tousen said emotionlessly. "I've completed my task. But that's not why I'm here."

Aizen's eye-brow arched in surprise; real surprise. "What do you mean, Kaname?"

"Aizen-sama," He continued coolly. "I saw, what the ninjas call, 'Slave Hunters' tracking a group of elderly ninja. They were all…" Tousen shuddered suddenly. "The Slave Hunters were nothing more then living corpses."

* * *

They wouldn't die.

No matter how many times the blond women struck them down, they just kept getting up again. Her Fraccion had just about reached the boiling point, and were about to explode with annoyance if the fight didn't end soon.

What had they drugged those kids with? The only one which was anywhere close to being awake was a blond one with blue eyes, but there was a look in his eyes so eerie that the woman was almost glad he couldn't move, or really understand what was going on.

Another one lunged at her, snapping her out of her thoughts and back into battle mode; in one swift movement, she sliced the man in half, crimson liquid filling the air as his two halves plummeted to the ground.

For a moment he didn't move, supposedly dead, then his upper half twitched, and suddenly he was crawling towards her again, leaving a thick trail of dark red blood behind him.

Annoyed now, the woman stuck her sword into his head, and spilt his skull in two; this time it did not move again.

Were they zombies? Weren't those just a human's fantasy creature to scary little children at night?

Considering this, she swung her sword round, and sliced off the head of a man fighting with her smallest Fraccion. His boy went limp, and fell, hitting the ground only a second before his head did.

They both smiled. They could win this thing now.

For the next five minutes, the four strong women paraded around, slicing the heads off of any non-ninja foe they could see; one blocked the woman's blow, and swung his own katana towards her middle.

Cursing, he leapt to the side, and slit his throat in one clear movement. She didn't dare lower her guard, for she knew all too well that a cut throat wouldn't stop them; you needed to crush the skull.

The bleeding man literally lunged himself at her, howling like the monster he was, blood gushing freely from the wound in his neck. She leapt at the last minute, dodging his flying sword my a hair's length, then swung her own sword up, through his eye and his head.

The final enemy twitched for a few moments before finally dying.

"Is everyone alright?" That was the first thought that came to mind as she swung round, suddenly worried. All three women nodded; though bloodied, they were practically unscratched. She immediately calmed down. "Good. Did any get away?"

"Yes. About three did." The one the long, curly brown hair reported. "They tried to take that boy, there," She pointed to a boy with silver hair, and slightly tanned skin. "They point at least two needles of that green stuff in his neck; the others only go half of one, expect for the blond boy, who got a full one."

She followed her Fraccion's finger to a small, silver haired boy, lumped up against the tree with a pained look on his face; he was wearing a black hakama, sandals, and white socks that disappeared into the folds of his clothing. The get up was strangely familiar, but she didn't look into it.

What was the point? Her memory, all their memories, had been erased when their Master had no longer needed them, and thought there was no need for them to remember him or what they had done. Call it kind or call it cruel; none of them cared, and she doubted any of them would.

"I wonder why they wanted him," The slime, snake-like woman said, her mouth unseen by the hand that always rested there. "He's not very impressive. Look at those skinny arms. He wouldn't be good for any labor force."

"Let's take them with us," The woman said suddenly, surprising them all. "If we leave them here, they'll wake to a massacre. Unless," She added, taking note of their facial expressions. "You'd rather stay here and clean up this mess."

The three girls shivered. The one with one blue eye and one red eye nodded. "Alright, Harribel-sama. Mila-Rose, help me with this fat kid!"

The odd eyed woman kicked at Choji's limp body. "He's huge!"

Mila-Rose rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that crap, Apache. He's not that big."

"My, my, you two are so unsightly," The snake like girl hissed. "It's hard to believe you even serve under someone like Harribel-sama."

"What did you say, Sun-Sun?!" The two screamed in unison.

Harribel shock her head as the three began to argue like there was no tomorrow.

* * *

Zaraki Kenpachi was a thing of legend, feared by every man, woman or child that ran within the Gotei Thirteen. No-one messed with him unless they wanted their face rearranged, or—worse—to pick out where their grave would be, and what kind of coffin they would like.

If those thousands of terrified Shinigami saw Zaraki in the state he was in, all that fear would transform into either pity, or mockery. He was in the most pathetic state a Captain of Gotei could reach.

Kenpachi never did scream—he wouldn't shame his Squad by doing something so low—but his breathing was hoarse, his entire body was trembling, and his eyes were beginning to water. His hands were still bound, and there were still spears pointed at his throat, but he would've preferred death over what that brown haired witch was doing to him.

The finger pushed against his forehead was soft to the touch, like running her hand over velvet, but the feelings it was sending through were horrific.

Mariah, it seemed, was skilled in the art of mental torture; she could bring up memories one never wanted to remember and force you to relive them, or twist and re-shape the ones you already have into scene after scene of horror and pain. And she seemed to love every minute of it.

She'd asked him if he was feeling okay once, and he'd snapped 'Never better!' the images that had poured into his mind had been enough to make him lose his breath. For a minute he'd been choking, saved only by the sharp smack he got in the back from the man who had dragged him here; that Edward brat.

Raven wanted to know more about Yamamoto, the So-Taichou, for some reason; Kenpachi guessed the obvious answer, that it was because he was the strongest Shinigami and would be the hardest to kill. He also wanted to know about Hinamori Momo, the Fifth Division Vice-Captain, and Matsumoto Rangiku, Toushirou's Vice-Captain. He didn't know why; they were just Vice-Captain, nothing important about them. Why did they matter?

When the session finally ended and Kenpachi, amazingly, still kept his mouth firmly shut, he heard Raven sigh in the darkness, and then waved his hand; the small gesture was paired with a soft groan that no-one but the Shinigami heard.

As the dragged his weakened body away to a unknown location, Kenpachi summoned up his remaining strength and smirked; Raven was still badly wounded, it seemed. That Hitsugaya sure knew how to leave his mark.

The place they took him and damp and dusty—and just as dark as the rest of their lair. The guards who took him here surprisingly strong; they literally threw the giant man into the cellar so hard that his back slammed against a hard stone wall. They muttered something dirty as they left, swinging the big, heavy metal door behind them with a loud 'clang'. The sound echoed throughout the room in the eerie manner that would eventually cause one to go insane.

Zaraki just smiled. He never had, and never will, have the pleasure of being 'sane'.

* * *

**Yay! I finished XD Before I continue, I'd like to say that the 'Slave Hunter' thing-ies will be talked about eventually (I kinda forgot about them for a bit XD) and as to why Harribel and her Fraccion are here, well, I LOVE them, so I brought them into the story XD**

**DEAL with IT.**

**Who ever can figure out who Jyuushi-kun is gets a cookie. Anyone who thinks Ichigo glances at Rukia is IchiRuki gets another cookie for your lovey-dubby mind. **

…**Does anyone WANT IchiRuki in this? I could do that, even though I don't ship them. If ya's manage to read this far, please tell me. I'll count up the votes and decide…..**

**Anyway, thanks for reading! ^^ Sorry that I suck at fighting scenes. **


	6. Land of Hollows

Chapter 5: Land of Hollows

* * *

The place where Harribel and her Fraccion resided was little more then what the Shinigami fighting Raven were using to live inside; a cave, hollow and damp, with dark brown walls that caused even the tiniest of sounds to echo like mad.

Apache was put in charge of watching over the kids which she—reluctantly—agreed to doing, though Mila-Rose often switched places with her because Apache got board very easily. She would amuse herself by poking or sitting Choji, to which the fat kid would groan and moan over for hours on end. Choji's leg had swelled slightly, and the Arrncar's poking was making it no better.

Sun-Sun was sent on the trail of the Slave Hunters—or 'zombies' as the women dubbed them—which were not that big of a threat, as long as you cut off their heads. Any other attack and they'd be up in a minute.

The sun was just beginning to rise above the mountains, light spilling over the valley below, when one woke. It was the girl—Hinata to us, 'Cutie' to them—with short, black hair and skin so pale it was almost white; bright, lavender eyes flickered into alert-ive-ness as she realized where she was, and where she was not. The night's events rushed back into her head like a flood, stunning her for a moment. Questions, to obvious it almost hurt, flashed across her face as her worry grew steadily.

Apache, who was guarding them, had fallen asleep, and was snoring loudly to the left of her, near Naruto, and Mila-Rose had gone to help Sun-Sun somewhere outside, so it was Harribel who saw her wake. She saw the questions and sighed.

Hinata eyed her uneasily as she walked over. "Good morning," Harribel said evenly. "Are you feeling any better, girl?"

'Girl' watched her for a moment, frowning, and then nodded slowly. "Y-yes, thank y-you. I feel f-fine."

She started to get up, but Harribel waved her down, and then sat down herself. "Don't get up. There is no point. I need to explain some things to you."

* * *

Hitsugaya wasn't sure whether he was dreaming or not, but he knew that this wasn't the world he'd been walking around in the other day for a number of reasons.

For one, it was nothing more then a plain of ice, stretching on for miles upon miles, save for the few froze trees that were sprinkled across the landscape and a large, ice cave that stood close by. All laid under a sky coloured the richest blue the small boy had ever seen in his life, unbroken by clouds or birds—were there even birds in this place?

He looked around, and saw nothing but what he had already seen. Not an animal in sight. That was another reason this couldn't be the real world; in the real world, you would at least _hear _a few animals, if you're not lucky enough to see any.

Then there was that aura. It was eerie, heavy and dark; it hung on his shoulders like drapes, pulling him down, trying to force him onto his knees. It was everywhere, faint, but terrifying—and it seemed to be getting a little stronger. As the seconds went by, the dark aura got stronger bit by bit, applying more and more pressure to his shoulders….

Shivering, he turned on his heel and glanced at the cave, and then gapped. From the corner of his eye, it had looked small, but when he actually looked at it, it was massive. How could he have messed that up? His glanced round, peering out the corner of his eye, and saw the trees he'd seen before—only they were closer. One was almost close enough to touch.

He spun around again, and, suddenly, everything was like it had been before; the trees were, once again, miles and miles away, much too far for him to touch.

Okay, so his sense of direction and perception was _way _off in this world.

Brilliant.

Bracing himself this time, he turned and faced the giant cave again—which almost seemed to explode in his face—then walked towards it. The cave's mouth almost seemed to swallow him up as he slipped inside.

Everything was made out of ice; there was no dirt, no grass, no thing—just ice and snow, and more ice and snow. He was amazed he wasn't trembling, with this Winter-Wonderland surrounding him. When he finally found his way to the main chamber, his heart skipped a beat, and, for a moment, he stopped breathing.

He'd always pictured Hyourinmaru as a strong creature, but he'd never pictured him quiet like this.

Wings the size houses, a tail long enough to touch the ceiling, and eyes redder then freshly spilt blood; a dragon made of ice lay curled in a ball before the silver haired boy, eyes staring, unmoved by his appearance. It reminded him of how a cat would stare at a mouse, a small, helpless creature whom had no choice but to surrender the cat's claws; the cat, before slitting open its throat, would look at the mouse in pity.

He hoped to God that this thing wasn't going to attack him.

"H-….Hyourin….m-maru?" He said softly, just to be sure.

The dragon smiled. Good. "**So you've come, Master.**"

"W-where am I?"

"**Your Inner World. This is where you met me, only, back then, this cave did not exist." **

He swallowed. "I see…"

"**No, you don't, but I will let it pass. We haven't the time for lessons. He's been waiting for you."**

Hitsugaya blinked in confusion. "Who's been waiting for me? Aren't you and I the only ones who can enter this place?"

Hyourinmaru nodded, and then sighed; the wind hit Hitsugaya's face like a hard slap, and sent him hurtling onto his backside. **"He is a part of me. He was created when you came to Hinata-san's world. Don't look at me like that, Master. I told you about the Gotei, but you don't seem to want to learn. Anyway, do you want to see him? Since he is a part of me, I choose when he walks freely and when he does not."**

Toushirou paused, processing the new information, and then nodded. "Yes. Bring him here."

Hyourinmaru did not reply with words, but rather with movement; his eyes flickered to behind Hitsugaya, and then narrowed as 'he' came to be.

The room was lined in snow, and it was a mound of this pure-white fluff that became the boy. Hitsugaya spun round and watched as the final pieces where put together, turquoise eyes wide, mouth open by the slightest bit.

They were identical, him and 'he'. The only difference was that 'he's' spiky hair was black as night, and his skin was ten shades paler; he was wearing a pale grey hakama, with a black sash around his waist. In his hand was a black Haori, with the kanji for 'Ten' written in white on the back.

But what really stunned Toushirou were the eyes. There were no whites in his eyes, just a pale black, and the parts which should've been blue-green were amber. The smile his face wore sent chills down his spin.

"Hi there, Toushirou-_**kun**_. You're looking good today, ain't ya?" His voice was mocking and just as sicken-ly dark as the aura that surrounded him. Hitsugaya realized with a jolt that it was the heavy aura he had felt outside only minutes before.

"……..Hello…." Hitsugaya replied cautiously.

His darker-twin chuckled. "You're already freaked out and you haven't even seen _it _yet!" His chuckles quickly turned into insane laughter. The silver haired-version just watched, silent, for his mouth was dry and his tounge glued to the bottom of his mouth. What the Hell had Hinata's 'world' created inside his sword?

The black haired boy finally finished laughing—though that taunting smirk still remained—and then dropped his Haori. He didn't seem to think much of it. With that hand, he reached out for the folds of his hakama at the top of his neck, then pulled in across, downwards, to that his chest was visible.

This time his heart really did stop.

There was a hole in his chest, black, wide and gapping. A _hole. _Right in the centre of his chest. Hitsugaya's eye would've widened even more if that were possible. The guy should've been dead; no-one can just walk around with a gap like that in there chest, or any part of their body for that matter. So why? Apart from the Hollows, nothing else—

It hit Toushirou hard, and it hurt, the realization that the boy standing before him was in fact a Hollow.

"Y-! Y-Your…..You're a Hollow!" He said softly. "H-how can you be…"

"You sure figured that out quick, for someone who's lost their memories, I mean. The old Toushirou, however, would've known what I was at first sight." He smiled. "Shows how much you've changed, Shiro-chan."

Something about the words 'Shiro-chan' made Hitsugaya's eye brows twitch. "Don't call me Shiro-chan!!" He said fiercely.

The Hollow snickered at that, and then suddenly stopped, muttering something that sounded cold under his breath; his black eyes flickered briefly to the ceiling, then hardened at a frightening pace.

"For God's sake…" He hissed.

And then he was standing inches away from Toushirou.

Hitsugaya only realized how close he was after a few seconds passed by; he gave a gasp of surprise, eyes snapping to the Hollows, and was about to say something when a terrible pain choked his words. Blood filled his lungs and came surging up his throat, forcing him to spit it out; the blood splattered against the Hollow's grey hakama, red almost glowing against the dull coloured get-up.

His turquoise eyes trailed—slowly—down to the source of the pain, and saw his darker half's hand buried in his chest, wrist painted in crimson liquid. The hand was stuck right where his heart was.

Hyourinmaru gave a howl so loud that the ceiling shock; his ice-tail lashed at the walls as his wings began to flap madly. There was a pain in his chest so unbearable that the dragon would've done anything to be ridden of it.

"Heh." The Hollow spat as Toushirou slowly lifted his eyes to face the Hollow's amber ones. "Do meh a favor and grow stronger, will ya? It's no fun fighting for the throne when the King's below the Horse's level."

And then everything was fading….

* * *

As it turned out, the poison which left the kids unconscious and paralyzed would be destroyed with water; Hinata's leg had felt stiff, as well as her throat dry, so she's asked for some water while waiting for the others to wake up. After having the water, her leg had become wobblier then jelly, and a few minutes later she was at a hundred percent.

She and Harribel hurried to awaken the other kids, moving to the silver haired boy first; he'd been shivered and whimpering for the last ten minutes. Just as they began to approached, he made a strangled nose, and then started to claw at his chest.

Harribel leapt to his side and held back the arms, shocked by the fact he could still move them; the poison paralyzed you as well as knocked you out. But never mind that; she had no chance to dwell on something so silly, because the boy was fighting—really fighting—for control his arms. He shook violently, hissing and snarling like a rapid dog—till Hinata arrived.

At her touch he automatically calmed, settled by the familiar feeling, but his arms continued to shake in rebellion, and Harribel continued to struggle with holding them back.

Hinata tilted his head slightly, and then began to feed him the water in small gulps. It was a slow process, but an affective one; after about three minutes his arms began to relax, and continued to do so until they were limp in the Harribel's grip. Eventually, his eyes flickered open.

He just a moment he just stared, dazed, then rolled his head towards Hinata and smiled; the smile was sloppy, because he was still half-asleep and drugged up, but it was big and somewhat meaningful. He was glad to be out of that nightmare, anyhow.

About an hour later, everyone was up, though no completely; Choji kept stumbling and hitting his head on things, to name one. Apache punched Naruto to the floor when he tripped and accidentally put his hand on her backside, then kicked his trembling body till Hinata and Harribel rushed to his aid.

It was close to mid-day when Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun returned from the morning-long journey. With them, they carried the unconscious body of a Slave Hunter, slung casually over Mila-Rose's brown shoulder.

The only skin that was visible on the creature were its hands, and they were grey, rough and speckled with hard, round dots that grew out of the skin like warts. Its face was covered by both a helmet, and a piece of dark grey cloth; its eyes were no where to be seen.

"Welcome back, Mila-Rose, Sun-Sun." Harribel greeted them evenly.

"What took ya's so damn long?!" Was Apache's greetings, rude and unacceptable from the blonde's point of view.

Mila-Rose glared at her shorted companion, ready to start another fight, but one quick glance at Harribel told her that she'd fought enough for one day. "He was fast," She snapped furiously, holding back her snobby reply.

"Ara, the children are awake?" Sun-Sun said, noticing Choji's fearful gaze. "When did they wake?"

"Where was he going, Sun-Sun?!" Apache howled, ignoring her question completely. "Did you find out what the Hell they are?!"

"When did Cutie wake up?" Sun-Sun continued, moving away from Mila-Rose, the unconscious zombie and the fuming odd-eye. She bowed her head to Harribel as she neared, apparently unaware of Mila-Rose holding back a screaming Apache, who was threatening to rip Sun-Sun's hair out if she didn't pay attention to her.

"Hyuuga Hinata is her name," Harribel corrected her. "and she woke up quiet a while ago of her own accord. The others were brought round with water; apparently it either destroys or nulls the poisons affects."

"I see…." She said slowly as Apache wriggled free of the brown skinned woman's grip and charged towards Sun-Sun.

Hinata's head short up, her lavender eyes wide and alert, and was about to shout to Sun-Sun to watch out, when the purple-eyed woman suddenly flew into the air; she sailed over Apache's head, her image reflected in the smaller woman's odd coloured eyes, and then landed gently on her feet behind her.

Before Apache could react, Sun-Sun's free hand (one was always held in front of her mouth) whipped out and grabbed the neck of the woman's clothing; seconds later, Apache was soaring through the air outside of the cave, Mila-Rose's eyes following her all the way.

It took them all a minute (except for Harribel, who saw it happen) to realize that Sun-Sun had just _thrown _Apache outside—with enough force to maker her **fly**, too.

"Whoa…" Naruto whispered to no-one in particular.

"That's messed up." Choji choked back.

Kiba blinked. "What the hell?" He muttered.

Hinata and Hitsugaya stared at Apache—who had now begun to fall, fast—and then glanced at each other. Hitsugaya was still a little shaken from his dream, meaning his face was still damp with sweat, and Hinata's eyes were surrounded by faint circles of purple, due to lack of sleep since Shino's death, but they both managed to smile.

Staying with the Arrancar was going to interesting indeed.

And it only got even freakier when _they _arrived.

* * *

"I don't get did, jackass!" The blur haired man roared for the seventh time, dazzling sky-blue eyes drilling into the face of the black haired man who stood close by.

The black haired man watched his company for a moment, then sighed, and looked back down at the map he held in his hand. He raised one, and casually undid the throat of his jet-black over-coat, so long that it finally came to a stop over his ankles. There was a light green scarf behind it with a circle pattern on it, though it could only be seen if you stared at it for a few minutes, it as faint. It hugged his neck comfortably, allowing the neck of his over-coat to run around his neck as naturally as if it wasn't there.

"Look here," He gestured for the blue haired man to come.

He stared for a moment, and then hobbled over reluctantly, hands buried into the pockets of his jeans. He wore a white jacket, unlike his….. 'friend', with the front of it wide open so that his chest was visible too all, as well as his scar. He still didn't know where he got it from.

"What?" He snarled, staring at the map. "I don't see anything."

"Read the text."

"I can't read, jackass!" He snapped. "How many times do I need to say it?!"

The green eyed man sighed. "It says: 'We'll be here. Hurry and get here.' That's where we have to go, not here, here, here, here, or even here." He pointed at all the places which the blue haired man had dragged him too in his confusion. At one point they'd ended up at the foot of a water-fall, another time they'd ended up almost being cooked by some fluffy, rabbit-people who danced around a big fire like Indians and sung. It was about then that the green eyed man with the black hair and black upper lip ripped the map free of his hands (in a very sidle, sensible way) and took it upon himself to guild them there.

"We're almost there. Look," He pointed to some near by trees, behind which stood a tall stone cliff face, though it was some distance away. "It'll take us—at the most—five hours to reach it, and that's on foot. If we hurry, we can reach it in three. So please, calm down."

All the while he'd been talking, his companion's face had been growing so red with frustration, that the paler man wondered if steam was going to shoot out of his ears like it did always did in cartoons when a character got mad. No such thing happened, though, and he wouldn't admit to anyone that he was a little disappointed.

The blue haired man hated having to flower the green-eyed prick everywhere like a stray dog, but what else was he to do? His senses were completely out of it after having fallen and hit his head earlier that day, and he was struggling to gather them together again. He wouldn't be able to find food or water, and, not being able to read, he wouldn't be able to read the few signs they'd encountered in their travels, and find his way to a town. Right now it sucked being him.

"Let's go," The pale man said softly, sensing his discomfort. "Once we're there, we can part ways, and never have to see one another again."

"Ha!" The blue haired man slapped his knee, suddenly smirking, and then sprinted toward the trees. "Then what are we waiting for!!?"

"Your going the wrong way-" The man began, but the cat like boy had already disappeared. He sighed, shaking his head, and then sat down and continued to study the map.

Oh well. He'd figured it out eventually….…right?

* * *

Hinata was constantly worrying about Toushirou through out the two day-period in which they stayed with the Arrancars, healing their wounds and re-stocking their supplies, not that they'd been low on too much. She couldn't get the image of him trying to claw open his chest out of her mind.

She didn't tell Kiba or anyone else about her worries, knowing they would tell her not to worry, and that it was just a bad dream. But who, **who**, has a dream so bad that they feel it's necessary to rip open their own chest? Whats more, who has a dream while they've been drugged unconscious and can move their arms while paralyzed?

With those questions, worries and concerns about Shino's dead and who killed him followed after. Who had killed him, and why? Had it been a 'Hollow'? Had it been a rouge ninja? What reasons could they possible had to leave him there like that? Had they wanted to strike fear in their hearts, or weaken them with such saddening news, or hadn't they known of them at all, and left his body there because they simply couldn't be bothered to have moved it?

And then there were the Slave Hunters; Harribel and her Fraccion were over looking the body, all except Apache, of course, who was still recovering from the injuries to both her body and her pride from when Sun-Sun had thrown her through the cave mouth. How were they able to move, even when sliced in half? Who was their master? Why had they attacked them? Why had they tried to take Toushirou away?

So many questions were buzzing around in her head; it was a wonder that she managed to stay standing. Lost in her confusion, she stumbled outside, and sat on the end of the cliff, dangling her legs over the edge. She closed her silver eyes, and let the gentle breeze cool her face, rustling her black hair and black shirt. Her pale grey jacket was tied slightly around her waist. As the wind settled, Hinata ripped her blue sandals off her feet and laid them next to her; she lifted her feet up slightly, and wiggled her pale toes, smiling. She felt like a kid again; back before this ridiculous war started and her father was killed and her mother was alive. Back when she was seven years old and still so full of life and hope for the future.

Her mother had been like an angel to Hinata; even in the darkest of times, she shone like a star. Her father was cruel to her, just like he was cruel to his daughters, but she had continued to smile, despite the sickening purple bruises that dotted her arms. She had held Hinata before she had died; hugging the small girl the chest she could while lying down on a hospital bed.

Everything in the room had been white, made even whiter by the early morning sun-light that streamed through the curtains. After giving birth to Hinata's younger sister, her Mother had grown week; Hinata hadn't left her side since midnight the night before. She let her mother sleep when she needed to, but never more then ten minutes; any longer and her skin would grow could, and blue rings would begin to form under her eyes.

"_The winter sun is a beautiful thing isn't it, Hinata?"_ Her mother's voice had been so faint, she had struggled to hear her. She had been silent for a while, almost three hours, and had only began to speak again when light filled the room. "_It's so bright and_ _silver…Promise me, Hinata, that you'll be a good girl, and shine as brightly as a winter moon? Please?"_

Holding out her hand, she offered her pinky to Hinata; understand the gesture, Hinata had reached out with her own pinky and twisted it around her Mother's.

"_I promise, Mama." She whispered, tears in her eyes._

Ten minutes later, she was dead.

The impact of the soles of her feet hitting the cliff side pulled Hinata back down to earth. She shook herself and looked down, her lavender eyes narrowed into slits of sadness, as the wind started up again. She closed her eyes once again, and listened to whistle of the wind.

The sound of rocks crunched beneath feet made Hinata jerk. She was on her feet in seconds, a knife at the steady, and faced the intruders with a face made of stone; her face showed no sign of her sadness.

"W-who are you?" She demanded, as all ninja did when confronted by dangerous looking strangers.

Two men, one slightly shorter then the other, stared back at her. The shorter of the two was holding the map in one hand, which was now slowly lowering as he realized they were being challenged.

Hinata's heart skipped a beat when she caught sight of the taller man's stomach (which he allowed anyone full view too, no shame attached). Her mouth slid open, and her eyes widened. The hand which held the knife fell slightly, years of training being the only that stopped the arm from falling to side.

The taller of the two muttered something, to which the shorter replied evenly, though his words were too soft for Hinata for hear. The taller man stared, and then began to laugh madly.

Hinata felt the others stir in the cave, and her eyes flickered towards them only for a moment; when the flickered back about half a second later the shorter of the two was standing inches away from her. She gave a start as he slapped the weapon from her hand, leaving her fingers burning from the impact. Then he back-handed her across the face, knocking her out in one swift movement.

She plummeted towards the floor—but never did hit it. Instead, her head came to rest upon the chest of Hitsugaya Toushirou; his arms wrapped around her protectively, his turquoise eyes unusually dark as he watched the strangers.

Hinata's cheek was redder then blood, and looked as though it should've been bleeding; her eyes were rolled back, and her mouth was still slightly open. She looked like a corpse, only one with warmth and life felt in it.

"Who the hell are you?" Hitsugaya asked softly, fighting to hold back his rage. Intelligently, he'd left Hyourinmaru in the cave when he'd leapt out to catch Hinata, yet to see the powerful enemies who had left her unconscious in a single blow. He wanted to jump at him and tear his throat out, but knew that that would only get him killed. They were Arrancar, after all, judging by the howl in the taller ones stomach.

Green eyes, dark and uncaring, studied him up and down as if he were a museum piece. Then he answered: "My name his Ulquiorra Cfier." Something about the boy's gaze seemed to make it alright to speak his name. "What is yours?"

"Hitsugaya Toushirou," Hitsugaya snarled furiously, spitting at his own name. He didn't think it matter much. All he wanted was to kill Ulquiorra.

"And that's-" Ulquiorra began, pointed to the taller man, but was cut off when the very man he was pointing to grunted.

"Ya ain't telling this brat my name, Ulquiorra!" He snapped. "I only tell my name to strong men; scrawny, little kids don't get the privilege."

"What was that, bastard?!" Hitsugaya roared.

He grinned in response.

"That's enough, boys."

The calm, calculated voice startled them all, even the seemingly emotionless; Hitsugaya's head whipped round to see Tia Harribel walking slowly towards them, Mila-Rose following close behind.

"Harribel…" Ulquiorra muttered as the wind swept the cliff side yet again; Hinata unconsciously snuggled closer into Hitsugaya's chest, shivering, as the effect of the Arrancar's slap began to wear off.

The blue haired man grimaced. "Harribel!"

Harribel's blond plants flickered in the wind, reminded the silver haired boys of snakes lashing out at their prey. Her green eyes were so dark they looked grey, her body so rigid that it made Hitsugaya wonder if she had come out here for a fight.

"So, you finally managed to locate our hide-out." Harribel continued evenly. "What took you so long?"

"Grimmijow got lost." Ulquiorra explained, hands disappearing into the wide pockets of his black over-coat. "We ran to the west instead of the north."

"Oi!" 'Grimmijow' snapped. "Now the kid knows, dumb-ass!"

"Shut up, Grimmijow." Harribel snapped icily. Then she turned back to Ulquiorra. "You can come inside, but be sure not to harm be guests again." Mila-Rose gestured towards Hinata. Harribel's eyes narrowed. "You'll have trouble if you do."

"We understand." The green eyed man reassured her.

"Good." She began to turn. "Then come inside. Mila-Rose, help Hitsugaya with Hyuuga."

"Hai, Harribel-sama."

As Ulquiorra followed the blond into the cave, he was fully aware of the young boy's gaze on his back, filled with a burning hatred that could've made a rock tremble. But Ulquiorra being Ulquiorra, he did not.

* * *

Back in the Soul Society, Ukitake Jyuushirou was building up some hate of his own.

Fallen enemies surrounded him, each laying in a blood of their own blood; Ukitake's sword was painted crimson-red, as well as some of his hands, Haori and hakama. He looked over the Seireitei, torn and ruined, remembering the days when it had been a beautiful place, home to the strongest men and women in the Soul Society.

He shook his head, and then let it hang. Byakyua's leg had been chopped off, then nailed to a tree; Kenpachi had been captured (or killed, though none would think of it) by the enemy, whose main-base's location was still a complete mystery to them; Unohana Retsu and her Vice-Captain fell victim to the enemy forces many weeks ago; and Hitsugaya Toushirou was still missing.

Hinamori had been hysterical when she found out, even more out of it the Matsumoto; she'd tried to escape the Shinigami's safe hold, run out and search for her little Shiro-chan, but had been stopped by Ukitake, who japed her in the stomach with his hand. The blow was given with such force that she would've been knocked out before she even felt the pain, though she might be a little sore when she woke up.

As predicted, she didn't; not for the first time, Hinamori Momo fell into coma. Soi Fon was seriously considering slicing her throat, saying they did not need such useless Shinigami at a time like this, but Ukitake always defended her and kept her safe from Soi Fon's blade.

He didn't do it for Hinamori, but rather for Hitsugaya, knowing his heart would be torn if he found out Hinamori was dead.

Ukitake's shoulders sagged in defeat as he cleared his katana's blade with his Haori—they were worth so little now, their once glorious Haoris—and blinked several times. What was he to do, not knowing where the young boy was? Ukitake remembered his past life—and what part Hitsugaya had played in it. What was he doing to do?

"Jyuushirou," Kyoraku Shunsui's voice was soft with sympathy; he was the only person Ukitake trusted enough to speak about his past life with, so he knew why the white haired man was so worried over the young captain's disappearance. "Come on down here. Night is falling. You know all the stronger ones crawl around at night. We'd best be getting back to the cave."

"……Shunsui…." Ukitake said after a moment. "….What should I do?"

Shunsui watched his friend for a moment, then pulled down his straw hat over his eyes and sighed, as he usually did. It was more the painful to see him like this; he couldn't face it with his eyes. "Hitsugaya-Taichou will be fine. He's strong. He's probably on his way back right this minute."

Ukitake bit his tounge to stop himself from repeating the word 'probably' in a cold tone. A small flicker of warmth sparked within, then, as he realized just how hard Shunsui was trying to make him feel better; Shunsui had always hated lying (unless it got him closer to cute girls) but still went out of his way to do so in Ukitake's presence.

A sad smile appeared on his lips. "Thank you, Shunsui."

Shunsui glanced at Ukitake through the gaps in his straw hat, then lowered his eyes and smiled. "You're welcome."

* * *

**Another one finished! I'm having so much fun writing these XD Grimmijow and Ulquiorra finally appear!! YAY! I hate No.4's name DX It's hard to spell.**

**I don't know what happened to Hina-chan's mama, and I don't think anybody does, so this be my version. I don't like Hinamori very much; I might kill her later, or just drop her out of the story…or maybe I'll give her a big part. I dunno.**

**The mysterious voice from all those chapters ago is finally revealed! An Inner Hollow! How…..over-used. Sorry if that just annoyed you XD**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter and its hollows!**

**People who want IchiRuki: 0 (poor Ichigo XD)**


	7. Planning for the Future

Chapter 6: Planning for the Future

* * *

Rukia stalked down the dark street, violet eyes hard and dark, watching for a sign of even the most insignificant movement. One had to be careful at night, no matter where you were, or how great your abilities were. The strongest of raven's crew came out at night, like vampires, searching for a proper feed; let your guard down, and you're as good as dead.

The 'street'—if one could even call it a street anymore'—was made up of wall after wall of crushed stone and scattered roof titles. Rukia had only been walking for a about half an hour; it scared her to think of how close Raven's armies had been to reaching the world outside of the Seireitei. It was strange, but Raven was yet to attack any of the regular spirits outside the once beautiful dome; his minions never left the city, never attacked or threatened a normal soul…..Most enemies would've gone straight for the lesser spirits, threatening to destroy whole bands of them if the Shinigami didn't let them be.

Maybe he thought himself too strong to use such pitiful methods; maybe he was too kind, and let them be; or maybe just didn't care either way, and ignored them. The young woman often wondered what kind of person Raven was, as many people did; what madness within his soul drove him to attacking the Shinigami? Most people thought he was mad with power, or just plain and simply mad.

Rukia, despite her hatred towards him, couldn't help but find him mysterious.

Scolding herself, she turned a beaten-up corner, searching for the glow of her Captain's white hair among the growing shadows. She dared not call out for him, fearing that someone unseen would hear her and answer her voice.

A flash of movement passed, seen only in the corner of the Kuchiki's eye, but it was enough to make her heart skip a beat; she swung herself around, hand resting on her katana's hilt, watching, listening, waiting. She stood there for God knows how long before her heart finally slowed in her rip cage, and she was able to…….'relax' somewhat.

She straightened herself (having bent over slightly in her battle-ready position) and then turned on heel and walked silently away, continuing with her search for Ukitake-Taichou.

In the rumble, the young girl was pressing her back against a large piece of wall so hard that it hurt; she watched the Shinigami intently, waiting—praying—that she would leave. If there was a God, he had answered her silent pray, for the raven haired woman turned and stalked away.

The waited until she had disappeared into the darkness, then let out a mighty sigh, and slid down the wall, hitting the ground with a soft thud. One of her legs folded off to the side, while the other stretched out over the rumble. Her face was glimmering with sweat, yet she still wore a thick, pale pink jumper that stopped just before her knees; her feet were clothed in orange slippers, with frilly red stuff around the base and neck. The beanie on her hand was sliding off on the right side; the colour of the beanie never seemed to be the same, always changing, depending on the light of where she stood. In the full light of the sun, it was bright purple with sprinkles of purple spots a few shades darker. In the moonlight, it as dark blue, free of any spots or other markings.

The scene would've been comical, if it hadn't been for the fact she was in the middle of a ruin, and scared stiff.

"Oh man…." She breathed, flipping her head to one side. Her ridiculously long, jet-black hair flipped along with her. "What are we gonna do?"

**I wonder**.

The voice couldn't be heard by anyone else—just the little girl.

**He'll catch us and drag us back if we don't hurry up. Change forms. Break the barrier. You're the one who set it up in the first place.**

"I…I can't do that…" The girl argued meekly. "Raven-kun put all these guards around the border…I can't fight that many peoples."

**But, Niko- **

"Please, _please _don't call me Niko-Jou. I HATE that name so much."

**Whatever. Let's just hurry up and go--! Oh, crap.**

'Niko-Jou' didn't even bother moving as Mariah, followed by Edward, suddenly appeared before her; the green eyed woman was smirking evilly at her, while Edward just stared, emotionless as usually.

"Where ya going, Niko-chan?" Mariah asked mockingly. "It's far too late for children of your age to be running about."

"Please don't treat me like a child, Mariah." Niko-Jou mumbled sadly. "I'm older then you by at least a hundred years."

"Well, your ten-year old form doesn't show it!" Mariah snapped icily. "Now get up! Raven-sama needs you to heal him again."

Pouting like the ten-year old she seemed to be, Niko-Jou scrambled to her feet and brushed off the dirt that speckled her jacket. She readjusted her beanie so it sat like a beanie should, and then, head high, allowed herself to be lead back to her prison.

Unnoticed by her captors, a small, ragged doll slipped out of Niko-Jou's sleeve. It hit the ground silently and lay still as her master was lead away.

_You know what to do, Nara._

**Of course I do, you stupid girl.**

* * *

Ichimaru Gin felt like absolute crap when he woke up the next morning.

He had hardly slept a wink the night before, puzzling over many things, like what Aizen was making Tousen do (yes, he knew that those two were scheming behind his back), why Shinsou was suddenly always on edge, but wouldn't talk to him about it, and many other things. But the one he wondered about the most was why Hitsugaya Toushirou was _here_.

How could he be here? The Ninja World was one like no other; the charka that circulated through the people who lived there had caused a dimension 'wall' to appear, making it close to impossible to enter the world through a Dimension Gate. The silver haired man shook his head; there was no point in worrying over something without an answer.

"Ichimaru-sama," A small, timid voice sounded. The owner of the voice was not in the room, but standing outside of it, ear pressed against the door. Ichimaru was sitting alone in an empty room, with only a small futon in the corner for him to sleep on; he spun round in his white, spinning chair and faced the large black doors, burying his troubles deep down.

"What is it, Atsuko-san?" He asked. That chilling smile reappeared on his lips as the girl entered, happy to have someone to tease.

When entering the Ninja World, they had been forced to leave all their Espada behind, and create new ones. Gin had named only two new Arrancars in the time they'd been here; Atsuko and Noritora, who basically was the old Noritora's double. Both were battle hungry and eager to prove themselves powerful.

Atsuko was a tall woman, taller then most, with honey-blond hair, forever tied in a bun on the top of her head. Her skin was deathly pale. Her green eyes were lifeless, almost as pale as her skin, and were impossible to stare into; no-one ever looked away from her, though, because she was always the one who glanced off to the side, knowing that if she met the person's eyes, they would shiver and back away.

She wore a tight Arrancar dress, with black shoes similar to Aizen's; her sleeves stopped suddenly at the elbows, revealing the black dragon tattoo that marked her arm on both sides. She wore gloves, too, white as snow—and as dull. Her hole was in her stomach, like Grimmijow's, and was in full few to all who met her.

Atsuko was Gin's 'personal' Arrancar. They Hollows of the Ninja World were far more obedient, and the majority were happy to serve; they each had a small flock of Arrancar that basically belonged to them, and were happy to do as they pleased. All the other ones who followed Gin had chosen there own names.

"Ichimaru-sama, y-you have been troubled. May I ask what is wrong?" Her green eyes were glued to the floor, as always. Ichimaru frowned, and twisted his chair away from her; he really didn't like Atsuko.

"Nah, ya may not. Bye-bye now." He waved his hand to send her off.

Her pale green eyes widened in protest, but she said nothing; shoulders sagging in defeat, the female Arrancar drifted out of the room. She couldn't believe her attempt to comfort her Master had ended so very quickly.

At that moment, a thought struck her; she paused at the door, one pasty white hand hovering on the dark frame. She'd heard them talking about it, the Arrancar Ichimaru had taken as his attack force. One had complained to her about Gin's fighting style, but that wasn't important.

"……Ichimaru-sama," She said softly, facing away still. Ichimaru perked up; why hadn't she left?

"What is it~?" He said in his sing-song voice, swinging his head round. He grinned at her back.

"………H….Hitsugaya…..He's here." She spoke slowly, fearing he would attack her in a rage. She knew as well as anyone how much he hated the silver haired boy. "I-I….I know how you can capture him."

Ichimaru's gaze was drilling holes in her back. "…Whadday mean, Atsuko?"

Summoning up all her courage, she turned on her hell and faced her master. "Hyuuga Neji."

* * *

Ichimaru didn't waste a second.

Dragging Atsuko along behind him, the ex-Shinigami made his way towards Aizen's personal chamber at a speed unfit for the human body. When they passed people, all they could see was a flash of white, black and green, which disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Atsuko could've screamed, if it hadn't been for the current of air that was choking her. They arrived at Aizen's chamber just in time; Atsuko's lungs had been close to bursting open. She collapsed to the floor and sucked in as much air as her lungs would allow as Ichimaru approached Aizen.

Aizen's room was just as empty as Gin's and almost identical, save for the small, white gem that floated in the center of the room in a circle of Kido. It would've glowed as brightly as the sun if it hadn't been for that Kido field, but Gin paid no mind. He had more important things to think about.

Aizen Souske stood up immediately, as equally shocked as he was surprised by the man's sudden appearance; what's more, he'd brought his Arrancar with him. What in the world…?

"Souske!" Aizen's mouth almost fell open. Gin was calling him by his first name? "Please listen to what Atsuko has to say!" Was this even Gin? Has his body been possessed by something, or was Souske talking to an Ichimaru-look a like?

"G-Gin…what's going on?"

"Please listen to Atsuko!" He repeated urgently.

Frowning, Aizen did that just that.

At the end of the speech, Aizen was leaning forward in his chair, completely and utterly flabbergasted. The Hollow's plan was brilliant—almost as good as the mind-twisting schemes that he came up with. Hyuuga Neji was a name he had never even heard of, and, yet, the boy was about to become a pawn in Aizen's plans.

He smiled. Not only could they score Hitsugaya Toushirou, but they could capture Hyuuga Hinata as well….Everything would fall into place. He, and his followers, would become Gods.

"Good work, Atsuko." He said calmly. "I never would have thought a Hollow would've come up with something so amazing. I'll have Tousen reactivate the tracking-device."

Atsuko blushed. "T-thank you, A-Aizen-sama. I am h-happy to serve."

"That you are." Aizen muttered this so softly that only Gin could have possibly heard; closing his eyes, the brown haired man gestured to Gin. Ichimaru seemed taken aback slightly, but recovered quickly and nodded; he was to serve, but wasn't as happy about it as Atsuko might be.

Atsuko….He strolled over to her slowly, his hands crossed over his chest, smiling as he usually did. The woman beamed at him; she felt so wonderful, so full of life and light….She felt like she could do anything.

"I-Ichimaru-sama, I-!" Her voice ended in a 'gah!' as Ichimaru's Shinsou sliced open her throat. Frowning, the ex-Shinigami's blade flashed again, this time cutting open her skull. Blood spattered against the dull pavement. Her body hit the ground with a soft 'thud'.

Ichimaru stared at her body, his smile returning. "Aw well," He said in his sing-song voice, raising his sword to clean it with his sleeve. "I didn't like 'er very much. She was way to quiet. Ya gonna have Tousen dumb 'er body somewhere?"

"Yes," Aizen replied evenly. He had opened his eyes; they were shimmering. "You must be excited, Gin, to finally get your revenge after all this time."

"I 'aven't got it yet," Gin reminded him. "but, yeah, I am pretty excited, Aizen-Taichoouuuuu~! Sorry for calling you Souske before." He smiled apologetically.

"Think nothing of it. Call Tousen for me, Ichimaru. We need to hurry and get this plan in motion."

* * *

Hinata's cheek stung like hell when she woke up. It was still a frightening shade of red, but was much paler then it had been when Ulquiorra had slapped her. When she finally met him as ally-to-ally, she bowed his head and muttered an emotionless apology that left Hinata wondering if he had even meant what he said at all.

Hitsugaya's resentment towards Ulquiorra only grew as the day wore on. After Harribel had welcomed him inter her 'home' he had taken it upon himself to examine the Slave Hunter's body. He sliced open the chest and looked at the internal organs, filling the cave with the sickening scent of death. He really only glanced at them, then told Apache and Mila-Rose to clean it up. He didn't seem to care about anyone around him, but Hitsugaya wouldn't have called him selfish. He…He was just so….

Toushirou just didn't like him. He was certain he wouldn't have liked him even if he hadn't hurt Hinata like that. He wasn't the friendliest person in the world, after all, with his never ending stare, and ever-frowning face.

Hitsugaya was glad to be distracted when Kiba called a meeting outside the cave; outside where Grimmijow, Ulquiorra and the others couldn't here them.

Kiba spread out the map of the Fire Nation over the rocky ground. They sat around the map in a circle, except for Neji and Naruto, who both stood; Naruto was staring at the map with sad eyes. Memories were hard to hold back when looking at a map like that.

"Right now we're here," Kiba said matter-of-factly, pointing at the map; there was a lake close by, Hitsugaya noticed, scratching his throat. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a proper drink. "If we travel here, across the border, we'll be safe from Hollows."

"For a while, anyway…" Neji muttering coldly.

Kiba pretended he hadn't heard. "My big sisters over there. She can help us."

Hitsugaya blinked in surprise. Kiba had a sister? Was she as dog-like as Kiba was, he wondered slyly.

"Why don't we just stay here?" Choji whined suddenly, surprising them all. "Harribel-san said we could stay here as long as we liked!"

"Choji's got a point," Naruto said slowly, agreeing the brown haired Ninja. "Harribel-san did say that. And…..We've already Shino. The person who killed him could be tracking us, for all we know. We're safer here. I say we stay for a while; we can travel across the border and meet up with Kiba's sister later."

Hitsugaya's eyes widened. He'd never heard Naruto talk like that before, not once in the few weeks that he'd known him; he remembered Kiba telling him stories about a much sillier, rasher and dumber Naruto, a Naruto who had apparently died with the start of the war.

Hinata watched her blond friend intently. Unlike Toushirou, she'd actually been there when Naruto had been a stupid brat who couldn't give a rats about thought or planning. What's more, to talk about Shino's death so easily….A few days ago he would've broke down crying just as the mention of it. She smiled; Naruto-kun had grown up.

"….That sounds good, I guess." Kiba said, recovering. He hadn't heard Naruto talk like that in a while either. "But when will we be leaving?"

"Two days." Neji said suddenly. "We don't need to stay here longer then we really need to. Two days should be enough to improve yourselves a little."

"We're not all geniuses like you Neji, dattabyo." Naruto growled, sounding very much like a angry fox. "We're being tracked by the Slave Hunters, too."

Not for the first time, Hitsugaya felt terribly out of place. They talked about Slave Hunters, they'd shown him a Slave Hunters, but, really, what were they? They obviously tracked slaves, thus the name 'Slave Hunters', but nobody seemed to want to tell him anything else, like what happened to the people they caught.

He considered asking, but didn't want to look like a fool, so he kept his mouth shut and looked down, pretending to be analyzing the map. Hinata, who was sitting close by, seemed to pick up on his discomfort, and nudged Naruto, whispering her request.

"Slave Hunters work for 'him', the guy who controls the Hollows," Naruto explained to nobody in particular, looking off to the side. Hitsugaya hung his head even lower to hide his greatful smile. "They take people from the Fire Nation and put them on ships. No-one really knows what really happens to them, but some people say they're used for experiments." He shrugged, and then grinned like foxy grin. "If we're lucky, we'll never know, dattabyo!"

Neji rolled his eyes, and Kiba smiled.

"How about four days?" Kiba suggested. "We're all tired, and I still can't feel my legs properly. That stupid poison…." He glared off into the distant, mentally scolding the Slave Hunter who had injected the stuff into his neck. He seemed to realize what he was doing, then, and snapped back into focus. "Four days?"

The others glanced at each other, and then nodded—Neji somewhat reluctantly. "Four days," Hitsugaya agreed.

Naruto, returning to his old self, then snatched up his back-pack and pulled out some re-packed Raman; he gave Hinata pleading look, eyes shimmering and big as saucers, and Hinata's cheeks coloured. Kiba rolled his eyes, smiling.

"Anyone else hungry?" Hinata asked as she stood.

Choji leapt to his feet, beaming. "Yep!" He cried. Kiba nodded, and stood. Neji didn't answer, but the way he stared at the Raman said that he was coming. Hitsugaya tried to decline, but before he could his stomach growled impatiently. Kiba, Naruto and Kiba burst out laughing, while Hinata managed to suppress her giggles; Hitsugaya felt his cheeks go red.

"I-I g-guess I-I'm a l-little h-hungry…" He stammered, embarrassed.

The six children headed off to collect fire wood, moving steadily down the track worn into the rock face by the feet of a hundred travelers. "Ah!" Hitsugaya breathed, and then spun around. "Harribel-san, we're going to find some fire wood. Are any of you hungry?"

Harribel glanced up. She'd been chatting softly with Grimmijow—who looked board as hell—and Ulquiorra. Hitsugaya felt sick at the very sight of him; maybe he should've asked….

"None for us, thanks," She said, answering for all three. "What are you three?"

Her Fraccion looked up from their game of cards.

They glanced at each other, discussed it quietly for a second, then Mila-Rose looked up and called: "Thanks, but no thanks. We're fine!" Their voices faded away as the children moved down the hill.

"Do those guys even eat?" Naruto asked once they were out of ear-shot. "I've never seen them eat anything before!"

"Maybe they e-eat while we're not around?" Hinata suggested.

"Who cares?" Choji butted in. His stomach gave a growl, then, and he clamped his hands over it. "I'm _starving_! Let's get some fire wood!!"

* * *

Night came fast and freezing; the very air seemed to shiver with cold. Hinata shuddered even while wrapped in her thick, grey jacket, with her hoddie up; every breath she took left a cloud of fluffy white in front of her face. Ice was going to form the next day, she knew it.

When they came back from there little cook-out, Hinata had almost turned around, thinking that they had gone the wrong way and entered someone else's hide out.

Harribel and her Fraccion were usually wearing close to nothing during the day, but at night their appearance changed dramatically.

Mila-Rose was wrapped in a dark crimson jacket with the image of a golden lion below the left breast, surrounded by blooming flowers, colours ranging from bright orange to dark yellow. Her scarf was black and fitted comfortably under her chin; the end of it (which hung over her shoulder) was decorated with bright red flowers that seemed to glow against the black. Her pants were black, as well, but were much plainer then either her scarf or her jacket.

Sun-Sun was wearing her usual white dress, only now she had a huge, emerald-green sweater over the top. There was a snake creeping up the sweater, twisting around her body as though it really were trying to strange her; it looked so alive, Hinata was surprised that it didn't jump out and bite her as she expected it to.

Apache was wearing white short outlined in red over maroon tracks; the ends folded over her shoe-less feet, protecting them from the night's chilly air. She was wearing a jacket with a dark blue (almost navy) chest with a white zipper and pocket; the sleeves were the same colour as her tracks. She was wearing a navy beanie that covered up her eye-brows.

All three Fraccion were beautiful with, their clothing tight, and giving off their curves and bends perfectly, but Harribel was absolutely gorgeous.

Her pants were tight and black, blacker even then the night sky; she was wearing a heavy white shirt, with a sleeves black jacket over the top. Her blond hair looked white against the pure black of the jacket, made whiter still by her dark skin. At first glance, one could've sworn she would be cold, but if you got close to her, warmth bounced off her skin and heated your own. What's more, the clothing showed off her body perfectly, while, at the same time, hiding it from view.

People like Ino or Sakura had always said Hinata had a good body and should take advantage of that, but looking at Harribel-san and her Fraccion's, Hinata suddenly felt like those complements had been coming from the most ignorant people in the world.

"W-whoa!" She gasped, running up to them. "Y-you guys look great!"

"Thanks, Cutie." Sun-Sun said.

Hinata looked round to smile at her, and realized with a start that she wasn't hiding her mouth. She was beautiful! Her lips were amazing! Pale and shimmering; real adult-like lips. "Whoa, Sun-Sun-chan!" She called her that because it would sound weird saying 'Sun-Sun-san'. "Your face is so pretty!"

She blushed, obviously new to those kind of comments. "R-really…?"

"I told ya that your face was pretty Sun-Sun!" Apache taunted. "You've gotta stop covering it up!"

Sun-Sun glared at her, and then stuck up her nose and walked away. Apache snapped and started to scream at her. Hinata and Mila-Rose watched them, and then smiled at one another.

Naruto almost fainted from blood lose when he saw the Fraccion. Neji shock his head and walked away, towards their sleeping area. Kiba's cheeks coloured slightly, then his black eyes widened as he remembered something, and then he turned and walked outside. Choji was too tired to even notice, and followed Neji to the sleeping area to turn in for the night.

Hitsugaya felt his cheeks turn scarlet—having lost his memory, he couldn't remember ever seeing women this good-looking before—and started after Kiba when Hinata called to him.

"H-Hitsugaya-kun! Could you c-come over here f-for a minute?"

Half turned already, he could've stalked away and left, and probably would've if it hadn't been Hinata calling his name; when it was her, he just couldn't say not. Groaning in protest, the silver haired boy spun round and stalked slowly over to the other women.

Outside, Ulquiorra let the cold winter air bit at his face. Grimmijow was standing somewhere behind him, arms crossed over his chest and back pressed against the wall, no doubt glaring at the sky. Ulquiorra himself was standing on the edge of the cliff where the wind was the stronger; Grimmijow had half-heartedly warned him about falling off—for rather being pushed off—but the green eyed man had taken no heed.

When the air ruffled his hair, he could feel the place his Hollow mask used to be. It wasn't there anymore, and neither was Grimmijow's, but their holes remained. He often wondered why.

"Hey, Ulquiorra-san," Kiba's voice was soft and respectful, not wanting to disturb him. Ulquiorra remained silent, and Kiba took that as a sign to continue. "Can I talk alone with you for a bit?"

"Grimmijow," Ulquiorra said icily, never looking away from the sky. Grimmijow grunted in what seemed to be protest, but still pulled himself off the wall, and stalked away, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he left. As he passed Kiba, he gave the boy a mocking grin, teeth flashing in the moonlight. Kiba returned the grin with a equally as flashy smirk.

When the blue haired man had disappeared, Ulquiorra said: "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Hinata." Ulquiorra's green eyes darkened; he'd been aware of Hitsugaya's dislike for him, and knew it was because of his slapping the silver eyed girl. He'd had enough of that attitude for one day, but now he was going to get it from Kiba. Great.

"I apologized for slapping her." Ulquiorra said emotionlessly. "Is that not enough?"

"Yeah, it is, but I just want to warn you." This surprised the black haired Arrancar, but none of the emotion showed on his face. "Ulquiorra-san, you should know something: Hinata saved Toushirou's life. If she hadn't found him when she did, he would've frozen over night, and we would've found a corpse the next morning. He's protective of her because of that, and because they're friends.

'She's precious to me, too; I love her." He felt no shame or embarrassment in saying that he was in love with Hyuuga Hinata. He had been since the first day he laid eyes on her. "In fact, she's precious to everyone. If you hurt her again, someone's gonna attack you, and that someone may very well be me. I just thought I'd warn you before you went off doing something stupid again. Well, good night. I'm gonna go to bed."

Kiba turned to leave, waving to the man over his shoulder as he went.

"….Kiba…" Ulquiorra said suddenly. Kiba froze in mid-step.

"Yeah?" He called back, turning partly around.

"If I were to hurt Hinata again, Hitsugaya would attack me before you even found out about, wouldn't he?"

Kiba was silent for a moment, then sighed. "Yeah, he probably would. And you'd end up getting killed, too. That sword's a lot stronger then you think." Come to think of it, both Ulquiorra and Grimmijow carried swords. Kiba hadn't actually taken notice of them till now, but the hilt and guard of Ulquiorra's was sticking out of his pants. Harribel and her Fraccion had swords, too, but they were rarely by their side, even less then Hyourinmaru was by Hitsugaya's. Kiba mentally shrugged; the business of a swordsmen (or swords-woman, as the case may be) was not his to look into.

"Well, good night." He repeated, and, this time, he really did make it back to the cave.

Just as he entered, Neji strolled past him and walked out into the night air. "Neji?"

"I'm gonna go get a drink." He said coolly, then disappeared into the night.

Kiba wondered what was wrong with him, but realized when he reached the sleeping corner; Choji was tossing and turning, making weird…..and disturbing….noises. Kiba watched silently.

"Hey, Kiba!" It was Naruto. "Wanna have a game of cards?"

Kiba turned round, and saw Hitsugaya, Mila-Rose, Naruto and Hinata all sitting in a circle, each with a small piles of white and black cards at their feet. Kiba nodded and raced over to join the fun.

* * *

Back in the Soul Society, Rukia was stalked back towards the hide-out, her shoulders sagging in defeat. The Kuchiki had searched high and low for her Captain, but was returning to the base empty handed; that man, even with his startling white-grey hair, and snowy-white Haori, could hide himself like the best of them….which really was the Captains. How did they manage to hide at night with those white Haoris flapping in the breeze? It would get so annoying…

Rukia sighed; she would probably never know, unless by some miracle she managed to achieve Ban Kai and took the place as Captain in either Aizen's, Ichimaru's or Tousen's squads. Where had they run off to, anyway, she wondered. This was the perfect time to strike, while the Gotei was in turmoil. Why didn't Aizen attack?

The raven haired woman would've puzzled more over this if she hadn't heard the loud 'squeak' as her foot came down on something soft. She glanced down, curious, and then let out a squeal of glee, her violet eyes shimmering like a full moon in winter.

It was a Chappy Doll, a little ragged, perhaps, with half an ear missing, but a Chappy Doll all the same; Rukia scooped it up and hugged it to her chest, suddenly feeling like a child again. Oh, how she'd missed good old Chappy. Since the war started, she hadn't seen hide nor tail of one of these snowy white rabbits. Holding back tears of joy, she pulled herself away and pushed off some dirt that shadowed its adorable face.

"Oh, who left you here, little guy?" She said with a puppy-dog face.

What happened next was a far cay from what Rukia had expected.

The doll began to glow; at first, it was just a misty grey, but it quickly grew to a white that could par with Ukitake's white hair. It transformed into a thick, white mist that moved too fast for the eye could see; before Rukia could even process what was going on, the mist soared up her sleeve, and scampered towards her heart.

Rukia gave a shriek and began to feel around her chest for the mist, eyes wide as saucers. What the hell was going on???!!

Unknown to Rukia, the mist passed through her skin, and drilled itself into her soul; it gave a mighty sigh as it finally settled again. Moving about without a host really could become tiresome.

**Hello.**

Rukia froze mid-search, and stopped breathing. Had she just heard a voice? No, that couldn't be true….There's not such thing as Inner voices, unless you had Inner Hollow, or it was your Zanpakutou talking to you; Rukia knew Sode No Shirayuki's voice off by heart, and was certain she didn't have a Inner Hollow. Had she been imaging things?

**Uh, **_**Hello! **_

Holy mother of pearl! Rukia gave another squeak and spun round in a full circle, frantically searching for the owner of the voice. She could see no-one.

"Who-! Where-! What the hells going on!?" Rukia screamed. "Who are you!? WHERE are you!?"

**Ah, there we go! **The voice said oh-so cheerfully. **I'm inside your spirit. But don't worry, I won't do anything, and I can't see anything. Not that there's much to see.**

Rukia's cheeks reddened at what she was sure was an insult of her flat chest and tiny body; because of her size, she was robbed of the womanly curves she longed for. It wasn't her fault!! Stupid voice!

**Anyway, my name is Nara. I'm a Guardian spirit, but I used to have a body like yours, a long, long time ago…. **Her voice trailed off into a soft whisper; though Rukia couldn't see her, she could imagine a woman staring off into the distance, thinking about her past mistakes and successes. She could even see her sighing and letting her shoulders hang, staring down at her hands, as the mistakes came flooding back by the bucket load. She could hear the voice sighing, which lead the Kuchiki to believe her mental image was correct.

…**Anyway, **the voice said suddenly, snapping back to reality. **What's your name, girl? You're a Shinigami right? **

"My name is Kuchiki Rukia," Rukia said slowly, eyes staring off into the darkness. "And, yes, I am a Shinigami. Jyuusan-bantai (Thirteenth Division) officer."

**Good. I have a message I need you to take to someone in the Jyuu-bantai (Tenth Division) right away. I know where Hitsugaya Toushirou-Taichou is. **

* * *

The Hitsugaya-Hollow's eyes flickered open, pulling him out of his dream.

He was floating in darkness, black hair blending in with his surroundings; it was usually silent here, but, sometimes, if you listened hard enough, you could hear Hitsugaya's thoughts, faint, but a hundred percent real. This was the place the Hollow resided when Hyourinmaru had no use for him.

That wouldn't be going on much longer, though.

"_Have you come up with a name for yourself, boy?"_

Hyourinmaru's name was like thunder, booming, angry, painful. It echoed throughout the colourless dimension eerily. The Hollow just smiled, brushing a hand against his hole.

"Nah, not yet." He said honestly. "I want someone else to give me a name."

"_Someone else? Don't look at me."_

"I wasn't," The Hollow snapped back, offended. "Why would I? No, I want someone much better looking them you to give me my name." The Hollow tilted back his head, and sunk back into his dream.

He saw Hitsugaya dragging himself over to the girls, all hot as Hell, and sitting himself while his chest continued to burn. The Hollow laughed out loud. What an idiot! There was a brown one, a odd eye, a blondie, a purple eyed one…and then there was her. The girl with silver eyes; they were so pretty, those silver eyes. Toushirou thought so, too, but never would admit it. The Hollow, on the other hand, loved telling himself that those eyes were beautiful.

He wanted her to give him a name. Once he'd taken control of Hitsugaya's body, it would be easy to ask her for one, but, for now, he would have to settle with 'Hollow' or 'boy' as Hyourinmaru had called him.

He grinned as the blackness suddenly shock, and Hyourinmaru groaned; it was getting close, now, very close, the time when Hollow-Hitsugaya could break out of this cold, lightless prison. It terrified him, being alone in that never ending sea of black; Hollows may be evil, but no-one said that they weren't afraid of the dark.

* * *

**And another chapter is done. I have so much fun writing these things its not funny XD Or did I write that last time? I honestly can't remember…**

**Anyway, I've actually tried to plan out what going to happen now. Ukitake will have a bigger part, so will Matsumoto/Renji/Ikkaku/Yumchika and the rest of the gang. Zaraki will eventually come back, too. Some more Hollows come…and maybe some more Ninja, but I haven't watched Naruto in such a long time, I'm a little unsure about their character. **

**Go figure. **

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! And thanks for all the nice reviews ^///////^ **

**People who want IchiRuki: 0 (I still say more Ichigo XD He's not getting much screen time OR love time is he?)**


	8. Suspicions

Chapter 7: Suspicions

* * *

It was quiet at the lakes edge. Neji leaned back against a tree, and let the silence sink in. How long had it been since he'd been alone, without having to worry about what Hitsugaya or Hinata were doing?

He tilted back his head and closed his eyes, staring into the never-ending back blackness of his eye lids; how beautiful this silence was. It was only made better by the winter air, cold, chilling, heavy.

His silence was disturbed, however, by a soft yelp, and a faint thud as someone fell to the floor. Neji's grey eyes snapped open, and immediately located the source of the sound. The Lake was surrounded by forest, but on one side there was a worn-in path, made by travelers who had stopped by the lake to re-fill their drinking bottles. It had come from that spot.

Neji was there faster then you could blink, standing in the centre of the clearing, shuriken at hand (if it was a Hollow there really was no point in getting it out, but hey, give him some credit for being brave). The threat, as he'd thought, was no Hollow, but rather a beaten looking man with dark skin, and silver—no, milky eyes, not like his or Hinata's. This man was blind.

Neji put his shuriken away and helped the man to his knees, not bothering to ask him whether or not he was okay. The black skinned back was bruised all over, covered in scratches, and looked half-starved; it was quiet obvious that he was not okay.

He was wearing a torn up, brown cloak, and a pale black hakama that resembled Hitsugaya's. Neji's eyes narrowed; did they know each other, or was wearing hakamas the new trend in some places?

"Thank you, boy." The man said kindly, panting. "I'm blind, and hardly anything gives off auras here. May I ask your name?"

"Hyuuga Neji." Neji said coldly. "And yours."

"Sajin, call me Sajin." The man replied.

"Alright, Sajin, what are you doing here?" Neji asked, then, eyeing the bag wrapped around his waist, he added, "And what's in the bag?"

Sajin sighed. "I'm following someone, that's why I'm here. And this bag….Well, my most prized and hated possession is in this bag."

Neji's eye brow arched in curiosity. His most prized, yet his most hated possession. How strange. "Who are you tracking, Sajin?"

Sajin eyed him cautiously. "Why should I tell you?" A predictable answer.

"Because I could kill you in a heart beat, and I'm not in a very good mood right now." Neji answered simply. He wasn't disturbed by anything he'd just said, they were all true facts; he did feel terrible, he wasn't in the best of spirits, and this blind, beaten man was easy pickings.

Sajin looked concerned for a moment, and then shook his head, letting it hang. "I guess your right.. And, why shouldn't I tell you, I'm going to die one day." He looked up. "I'm tracking a boy called Hitsugaya Toushirou. I sensed his Spirit Energy near by, and have been following-"

"Hitsugaya Toushirou?" Neji repeated, making sure he had heard right. "Did you say Hitsugaya Toushirou?"

The black man seemed taken aback by Neji's surprise. "Er, yes. Hitsugaya Toushirou. A boy with silver hair, 133 cm tall, turquoise eyes. Do you know him?"

"Why are you tracking Hitsugaya?"

"Er….You see, Hitsugaya Toushirou…I used to know him." Neji's grey eyes widened. "We used to work for the same person. Not along ago, actually, about a month. I managed to escape because I didn't like where our boss was taking things; I told him he was corrupt, but Hitsugaya didn't care. He said he was sworn to protect and serve our master, and would till his last breath, no matter what." Sajin shook his head. "He's been ordered to capture a young girl. I don't know her name, but I know she is either the Heir or Leader of a once powerful Clan. Our leader's name is Aizen Souske, and he needs her for something.

'He sent Hitsugaya to retrieve her by whatever means necessary. I'm trying to find him, so I can save the girl, and whoever she's traveling with, if she's traveling with anyone. I do hope they haven't gotten killed by him. He was always easy to annoy."

Neji couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was Hitsugaya really there just to capture Hinata-sama? Could it be true? Neji looked at the man up and down—who was staring back, waiting for the boy to say something. Could it really be that Hitsugaya's 'I lost my memory' was all just a big, fat lie to get closer to Hinata-sama?

"I discovered that Aizen sent him another order, not too long ago," Sajin said suddenly, when Neji remained silent. "He said that he'd found at least several other people with strange spirit energy, all from the same Clan. He said that the girl was by far the strongest, and still wanted her captured. And, yet, he says that if the enemy would not let him take her, he was to kill them all—including her—and move on."

"Why should I believe you?" Neji demanded, furious now. "Hitsugaya has done nothing to Hinata-sama—yet—and though I don't trust him, I can't assume he's evil!"

Sajin gasped. "Y-you're staying with Hitsugaya Toushirou!"

"Tell me why I should trust you, Sajin!" Neji roared. He was just about ready to jab the man's eyes out when he suddenly flipped open his bag; he pulled something out, a grimy white grab, and held it up in front of him.

It was a Haori, dirty, bloody and ripped no matter where you looked. The kanji for 'Nine' was in the centre of a diamond, printed on the back, just like with Toushirou's, only his had the kanji for 'Ten' instead. Sajin smiled sadly. "Like I said, my most prized, but my most hated, possession."

Neji just stared; his mouth fell open slightly, and his usually dark, uncaring eyes were wide as saucers. He'd never trusted Hitsugaya, a feeling that had doubled since his display with the Hollow, and Shino's abrupt death. Despite the feeling in his gut that said that he shouldn't trust this man, Neji found himself starting to believe his accusations; recovering, he glared into the man's eyes, making him shift uneasily and look away, slowly lowering his Haori and tucking it back into his box.

Neji opened his mouth to say something, but was cut short by sound of stomping feet; thinking quickly, he dashed to the dark man's side and whispered: "Meet me here in two days. I'll watch Hitsugaya and judge. If I find him guilty, I'll come back and talk to you about getting Hinata-sama away. But if I find him innocent…" His hand strayed to his weapon pouch, and the man gulped. "….you'll be wishing you'd never started tracking him."

And then he was gone, racing through the trees toward the source of the sound; Sajin watched him dart away, and stood up. His kind, gentle expression dissolved into a cold, heartless one, hell-bent on serving his God-like master.

Neji, once ahead of the noise, pulled out a shuriken. He stared into the trees in front of him, eyes narrowing as the sound of foot steps got steadily louder, louder and louder…

Then four people broke through the greenery before him, two guys, two girls, all hungry and tired, far from the mood for a fight; Neji's eyes looked as though they were about to pop out of his sockets.

"Y-you are….!"

* * *

"Neji _still _hasn't come back?" Kiba demanded, and Naruto nodded sadly. Hinata and Hitsugaya stood by one another, the gut-feeling of uneasiness growing by the minute; Choji didn't seem to care much, for he was staring out the cave mouth, watching the ever brightening sky as though he expected it to explode.

The sky was getting brighter by the second; it was already a faint shade of pink and the sun had begun to hull itself over the distant mountains. Neji had gone out for a drink the night before, and was yet to return. They were all thinking the same thing; had Neji been attacked and killed, as Shino had, when he went out for his walk? Would they travel down to the small lake, only to find a hissing, spitting river of boiling water, choked with ash, and a torched-black body with Neji's head-band tied loosely around it's forehead?

Harribel and her Fraccion had been told the story about Shino by Hinata, and were equally as worried; they stood a little apart from the children, but were listening just as intently as everyone else. Ulquiorra, as usually, didn't care about the problems of others, and Grimmijow didn't give a rat's tail either way.

"I searched about the base, and I couldn't find him," Naruto reported, head hung. "I didn't go to the river b-because…." Because I was afraid of finding Neji dead. Unspoken words that everyone seemed to hear.

"Hitsugaya, come with me to the river," Kiba said, taking on the position of commander as he usually did in such situations. Toushirou nodded, happy to help.

"I-I want to come t-too!" Hinata exclaimed suddenly. Hitsugaya's turquoise eyes flashed to her face, narrowed with concerned; if they found Neji as said…who knows what would happen to her. Despite Neji's 'I-hate-the-whole-world' attitude, the two had been quick close.

Kiba seemed to have the same fears. He hesitated before speaking. "H-Hinata, Neji-"

"K-Kiba-kun, I appreciate it, but please l-let me come!" A faint smile touched her lips. "H-He _is _my cousin, after all."

"There's no need!" Choji exclaimed suddenly; they all whipped round to see that the fat kid was waving his hand around like crazy, pointing at the path. "He's back!"

Neji was welcomed back with such happiness that it almost seemed that he hadn't been there in ten years; Hinata threw her arms around his neck, which startled him, an expression taking over his face which was like none Hitsugaya had ever seen before. Slowly he recovered, and hugged her back

"I'm so glad y-your safe!" She murmured. Neji snorted softly and looked away, hiding his paint blush; he'd never been one for close contact.

"Neji," Hitsugaya said once Hinata let him go. "Where've you been? We've all been worried sick about you!"

"I don't to tell _you_!" Neji snapped, eyes burning like the pits of hell. Hitsugaya stared about into those furious eyes with his icy cold ones, all sense of worry evaporating; a tired frown replaced his relieved smile, which only made Neji's eyes even cruller. The boy sighed; what had he done _this_ time?

"Anyway," Neji continued, looking away from Hitsugaya. "I ran into some…..friends on the way back. They're coming up." His face screwed up into a mask of annoyance; Hitsugaya rose one thin, silver eye brow. Everyone seemed to annoy Neji, but not like that—never like that. He glanced down the road, wondering who had enough power to make Neji pull such a face.

The answer came in the form of blue eyed, blond girl, followed by a black eyed boy with his hair tied into a spiky bun on the top of his head; behind them came a brown haired man with a lazy look on his face, and a short, green haired, purple eyed girl who was wearing close to nothing.

He regarded them with a look of confusion, confusion which only doubled when Hinata gave a gasp of surprise, and Choji's face cracked into a grin.

"Shikamaru!" he called, waving frantically. "Ino-chan!"

* * *

Not for the first time, Hitsugaya felt completely out of place.

Apparently, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino were Choji's old team mates whom he'd lost contact with a few months ago; he had thought they'd both been killed, and had wandered into the woods in his despair, only to be found be hollows, and then dragged back to the old shack by Hyuuga Neji. When they asked why he didn't tell them, he shook his head and said there had been no need.

The other two, it seemed, were Arrancar, and had met up with Shikamaru and Ino at a Raman Stand. Shikamaru and Stark, as the male Arrancar was called, had a few things in common, one being they were both incredibly powerful, as well as incredibly lazy. Ino and Lilynette—the purple eyed midget—seemed to have something in common as well; they were both constantly reminded the boys about their strength and how people relied on them. And they both seemed to do it quite violently.

While the Arrancar and Ninja shared their experiences and chattered away about the past, Hitsugaya just stood there, feeling very much like a ghost; he could've stalked right out the door and no-one would even notice his movements.

He eventually sat down and kept silent; he wanted badly to interfere by saying something, but his friends were so happy, so joyful that there was no way Hitsugaya could bring himself to do such a thing. So he just sat there, back against the wall, and watched them talk.

Hinata and Ino hugged as though they were long lost sisters; Hinata was so glad that there was finally another (human) girl she could talk too, having been living with nothing but boys for quiet a while. Ino seemed just as happy.

"Lilynette's really cool, but she can be a little childish sometimes," Ino had whispered.

"Hey, Hina-chan," The blond said suddenly, pointing over the silver haired girl's shoulder. "Whose the silver haired cutie over there?"

Silver haired…? Ah! Hinata almost smacked herself, but managed to keep her hand where it was; she'd forgotten about Hitsugaya! What was wrong with her? How could she have forgotten about Hitsugaya, if only for a moment?

She whipped round, black hair sailing round her face, and saw Hitsugaya sitting on the ground, eyes closed; even so, she could tell he was not sleeping. He was pretending to be asleep…why? Frowning, she tip-toed over to him; Ino's mouth sloped into a confused frown.

"H-Hitsugaya-kun?" She said cautiously as she crouched beside him, Ino following close behind. Looking at him closely, Ino had to admit that he was even cuter then Uchiha Sasuke, better known as the heart-throb of Kononha.

Hitsugaya's eyes snapped open, surprising them both, and he looked up to meet Hinata's eyes; her cheeks coloured faintly from the closeness, and she looked away, straightening herself. "U-Um, H-Hitsugaya-k-kun, d-do y-you w-want to c-come talk?" She stammered, twiddling her thumbs.

Hitsugaya's lightly tanned skin his light pink blush, which he was greatful for. "Yes, that would be nice."

Ino looked from Hitsugaya to Hinata and back again, the romantic clogs ticking in her brain as a sly smile formed on for face. Well, well, well, she thought to herself, what do we have here?

Mentally, she rubbed her hands together and began to laugh evilly, plotting all the while, as Hitsugaya scrambled to his feet, and greeted Ino.

"I'm Hitsugaya Toushirou," He said, smiling faintly.

Ino grinned a little too brightly back, by the way his smile twitched. "Yamanaka Ino!" She squeaked. "It's soooooo nice to meet you!" Hitsugaya twitched again, wondering whether the blond was trying to tease him, or usually acted like this.

That was when Naruto raced over, and, without even asking, dragging Hitsugaya over to meet Shikamaru; Hinata's eyes followed, and for just a moment, their eyes met, Hitsugaya's and her's. Their cheeks darkened, and they both looked away.

Ino could've fallen over cackling if it hadn't been for the fact that she wanted to keep what little pride she still had; instead, she settled for a huge grin, and threw her arms around Hinata's neck.

"Well, well, well!" She whispered mockingly, repeating what she had thought in her head only minutes ago. "What _do _we have here?" Hinata felt her face growing hot as she realized what Ino was talking about.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru, staring lazily at his old friends, was explaining how Stark saved their lives from a group of Hollows; he had just gotten up to the part where Stark used his cero to smash open a Hollow's head when Naruto appeared, Hitsugaya dangling off his arm.

"This is Hitsugaya Toushirou, the guy I told you about." Naruto explained, pointing at Hitsugaya, who straightening himself and nodded in greeting. Shikamaru nodded back, happy to remain silent. "Hinata saved him from turning into a popsicle stick." Hitsugaya felt his ears grow hot with embarrassment, while Naruto continued to grin like the fool he really was. There was no need to say it like that, you blond idiot…

But Shikamaru didn't seem to notice, and went on his story after a few minutes of saying hello to Toushirou.

Unnoticed by all, the Slave Hunter's grey, rotting body bathed in shadows, twitched.

* * *

Hinata stood on the edge of the cliff, looking out over the valley—the picture of perfect bliss. It had been a day since Shikamaru and Ino had appeared from beyond the trees, brining with them both good news, and bad news. At the moment, the two were in the cave speaking to Kiba, going over their plan to leave the next day at around twelve o-clocks. Ino didn't seem to agree with that at all, the way she was yelling her head off; she was so loud, Hinata was sure the whole world could hear.

Her spirit seemed somehow stronger, now that she knew two of her close friends were a live; what's more, they'd said that not only they, but Sakura, Sasuke, Temira, Gaara and Kankuro were all still alive and well—Gaara was even better then before the war started, according to Ino. He seemed to have opened up a little, and got a long with everybody much better.

Hinata felt as though she were about to faint from excitement; she suddenly had an unbearable urge to run down the cliff and race towards the border that separated the two countries. All this time, she'd thought they were dead…

"Hyuuga?" Hinata jumped at the sound of Hitsugaya's voice. Turning round, she saw him leaning against the wall, watching her with his arms crossed over his chest. Hinata's cheeks coloured; how long had he been there? "You feel better?"

Hinata nodded, smiling. "Yes. I-I feel a hundred t-time better. I'm s-so glad that they're both safe."

Hitsugaya nodded, satisfied with her answer, and let her go back to sight-seeing; on the outside, he looked as calm and collected as he usually did, but on the inside, he was dancing with glee. Hinata's mood had been dark for the past few weeks; Shino's death had taken its toll on her. Now, with Ino and Shikamaru's sudden arrival, Hinata's spirits had lifted ten-fold, her smiles becoming brighter, her step becoming lighter. Not even the King Spirit could know how happy he was to see her returning to her usual happy self.

Ulquiorra stalked slowly towards the cave mouth, green eyes focused on Hinata's back; he'd been wanting to talk to her for a while, now, but had only just found the courage to do so. Despite his attitude to battle, he really was a coward on the inside—going near her may very well mean fighting with Hitsugaya. He couldn't see the silver haired boy anywhere at the moment, so perhaps it was safe to speak….

He stopped dead, green eyes wide. What was this feeling?

He wasn't the only one affected. Hitsugaya's smile disappeared as his stomach did a back jump; he clung to the side of the cave to stop himself from throwing up that mornings breakfast. What the hell? He wondered, looking around; he couldn't sense any Spirit Pressure of any sort, yet his stomach was trying to empty itself. What was going on….?

Whether it was in front of him, or an image behind his eyes, Hitsugaya did not know, but what he saw he could bet his life on. The Slave Hunter moving, slithering through the shadows like the demon it was; its hand was bloated, holes ripped into it, all glowing a ghastly red colour. The red seemed to be pressing against the grey skin, trying with all its might to break free…..

He realized it too late. "Hyuuga-!" Was all he managed to say before the ground cracked, and fire leapt into the crispy, cold winter air.

Hinata spun round, silver eyes wide, and saw the ground below her feet crumbling; in fact, the entire area which she was standing on was breaking. Too late to do anything but wait, Hinata held back a scream as she began to fall.

Hitsugaya dashed forward, and, standing on the edge, reached out, Hinata reaching out in turn; their finger tips brushed, but nothing more. Hitsugaya would've kept running, but instinct took over, and his feet glued themselves to what little ground hadn't fallen apart. He cried out as she fell, reaching further then his small arms could bare; they screamed in protest, but the boy could care less. Hinata wouldn't survive a fall like that, not like Apache could; Arrancars weren't human. She'd die….

Wind whistled past Hinata, folding her head up; she stared at Hitsugaya, and smiled. She was going to die, she knew, but at least she saw him again, even if it was just once, before she died….The Hyuuga sighed, and then closed her eyes.

Ulquiorra, painfully pale, let his own instincts take over as he saw her silver eyes close.

He ran at an impossible speed and threw himself off the cliff—no-one saw his movement, not even Stark, who was standing close by, looking upon the blood-chilling scene with his heart in his throat.

Kiba and Naruto leapt up and wheeled outside, Neji, Harribel and Fraccion close behind, but were too late to do anything; Choji was at the back of the room sleeping, so he hadn't the slightest idea what was going until Ino kicked him and told him it was time to wake.

In seconds everyone was outside, pressed against the side of cliff face, trembling with fear and concern; Hitsugaya stood on the very edge, over where the ground could break and he could, too, fall to his death, looking down.

The ground had stopped cracking, but no body dared to move; they all stood, watching Hitsugaya, who was so still he could've been a stature, save for his hair that moved in the breeze, and the sweat that was sliding down his face. The others—who couldn't see what he could see—took the action as one of despair, so they said nothing, and accepted what had happened; in truth, the action was one of pure shock and over-whelming relief.

Ulquiorra had always looked like a powerful figure, but at the moment, he looked very much like a God; he stood up-right in the air with nothing under his feet, as though suspended by invisible strings. Hinata looked terribly small in his arms—not that she didn't look small most of the time—lying there, eyes squeezed shut; she opened her eyes and, for a moment, she was dazed, free of thought. Then confusion kicked in, and she wondered why she wasn't dead—then she saw Ulquiorra.

"Ulquiorra…s-san…?" She breathed, her voice barely a whisper. The black haired man did not respond.

It had all happened so fast….One minute, she'd been in the coarse of accepting her death, the next she was sitting in the arms of a man who had struck her down with a single slap. And they were floating. _**Floating. **_She couldn't quite process that yet, so, to stop herself from crying out, she looked straight up and pretended that they'd fallen onto a rock, or tree, or something _solid. _

"U-Ulquiorra….you…." Hitsugaya murmured as the green eyed man began to float upwards; Hinata's heart began to beat fast, and her eyes kept trying to roll in their sockets to see the sheer, impossibly high drop below them. Hitsugaya saw this, and laughed out loud; she was alive. Hinata was_ alive_. He didn't care about anything else, like how close he was to slipping off the edge and joining her in Ulquiorra's arms, or how his friends—plus Neji—were giving him looks of confusion and anger. A small smile lit up his face, and Hinata blushed, looking away and smiling to herself; was he really that happy to see her alive?

"T-Toushirou…-k-kun…?" Ino whispered, voice high with horror. "W-why are you laughing?" Her voice was firmer this time, but the fear and sadness still snuck in.

If Toushirou had heard her, he choose not to answer; Ino's face darkened, and she lowered herself to lift a stone and hurl it at his head when Ulquiorra appeared beside him. He let the silver haired girl out of his arms, who Hitsugaya wrapped in an embrace before she could even steady herself. Hinata's chest flushed as her chin was buried into his neck; she stood stiller then a stature, still trying to understand what was going on, then relaxed herself and hugged him back, burying her face into his hair.

Everyone else, who'd thought Hinata had died, gasped in surprise; Ino had picked out a stone, which it slipped out of her raised hand, and fell to the ground with a loud **clang**, and then shattered into five grey fragments. Shikamaru let out a loud groan as his tense muscles relaxed. Naruto looked as though he were about to faint with relief. Kiba's face was mixture of happiness and hurt, but the two were so muddled together, you couldn't really tell to the difference. Harribel and her Fraccion all let out relieved sighs, and let their shoulders drop; Mila-Rose smiled at no-one in particular, but Apache saw it and smiled back, this being the first—and probably last time—they would ever smile at one another. Grimmijow rolled his blue eyes and stalked away. It was just Hinata. Who cares? Choji's face was unreadable, apart from the fear that was etched into his features.

Ulquiorra looked as emotionless as ever, yet on the inside, he felt as though he should be glowing; he'd just proved to each and every single person on that cliff that he was not a monster, despite the powerful aura that hung around him, and that he had some feelings. He glanced at Hitsugaya and Hinata, and almost let a smile slip past his guard; he'd never seen Hitsugaya look so fragile.

"…..Thank you…" Hitsugaya muttered, just loud enough for the Arrancar to hear. "Ulquiorra."

Ulquiorra's eyes widened in temporary shock; never in the time he'd known the boy had he expressed any emotion towards him besides that of hatred, but now…He quickly recovered, and nodded.

"That was a bomb," Naruto said slowly, as he tried to grasp what had just happened. "Who could've set up a bomb?"

"The Slave thingy!" Grimmijow howled from inside. The ninjas by the wall jumped as they realized Grimmijow, who had disappeared inside the cave, could still hear them. "It's not here!"

Hitsugaya's stomach did a side twist. That image he'd seen before, with the Slave Hunter crawling across the dirt, with its hand about to explode—it had really happened? He'd only reacted to it because of the sickening feeling he'd gotten. Holding Hinata tighter, he stained his ears and listened intently.

"It was still alive?" Apache shrieked. "But we broke its damned skull! How could it still be alive!"

"I cut one in half once, and it still lived—after a few moments." Harribel said darkly. "Who's to say that slicing their heads open only paralyzes them for a few days?"

Apache's eyes widened in disbelief. "T-that's…"

Shikamaru, who had over heard, tilted his head towards Choji, who seemed just as shocked as everyone else. Grimmijow had shoved him aside when the ninja had tried to get a good look at the place where the Slave Hunter had been; the blue haired man hissed at him through barred teeth, looking so much like a cat it was almost comical, but clearly to Choji it was not, for the boy's flabby cheeks lost their colour, and he quickly moved away. Shikamaru's black eyes narrowed in curiosity. He couldn't help but notice there was something off about Choji.

Meanwhile, Hitsugaya had finally released Hinata—after he realized what he'd been doing. His cheeks were redder then a batch of ripe tomatoes when he let her go, looking away in a futile attempt to hide his embarrassment; Hinata's face was in no better shape. She wanted very badly to say something, but she did not, for Kiba's arms were around her waist and hastily dragging her away from the edge before she had a chance.

Ino looked from Hitsugaya to Hinata and back again, smiling to herself as she realized she'd done this once already. The romantic clogs were ticking again, but she forced them to halt; this wasn't the time for plotting or planning—they needed to figure out how the Slave Hunter got away. And that's exactly what they got to doing, once everyone was sure Hinata was alright, and Ulquiorra had been thanked at least three times by each ninja. Eventually is started to annoy him, and he quickly moved away before that Yamanaka girl found him again; something about that blond scared him…not that he would ever admit that to anyone, not even himself.

Neji was the only one who remained silent; if anyone had been paying attention to the brown haired boy, they would've seen his misty grey eyes wide as saucers, and his face made even paler just by the layers of sweat that laced it. In all honesty, he had come to believe the brown skinned, unseeing Sajin's statements about Hitsugaya Toushirou; there was little doubt in his mind that Toushirou set that bomb. Little: not none, but little.

As Harribel organized a search party for the Slave Hunter, Neji faded away into the darkness, becoming one with the shadows, and sped away to be with himself.

* * *

Rukia more then uneasy as she wandered about the Shinigami base, glancing nervously around for a familiar face—someone like Renji, Byakyua or….or Ichigo; yes, or Ichigo. He'd understand what she was going through, right? The two of them had fought together for so long, had sacrificed together, had suffered together…With a jolt, Rukia shut off that lien of thought. She'd been through much with many people—the biggest by far being Renji. She's watched others die by his side—just because Ichigo fought to save her doesn't been he was any more important then red-haired Renji was.

Scolding herself, Rukia turned sharply down another corner, her thoughts drifting back to Nara, who, at the moment, was sleeping soundlessly, snuggled up in….spirit? Nara had told Rukia she knew where Hitsugaya-Taichou was, and had insisted that the statement was nothing but the truth when the Kuchiki had raised a thin, black eye brow and demanded proof. Nara had gone through a series of complex theories about inter-dimensional travel, believing that was the appropriated way to answer the Shinigami's 'What proof do you have?'. Rukia very well have died of confusion if it hadn't been for Ukitake Jyuushirou's sudden arrival, followed closely by the Hachi Bantai Taichou (Eighth Division Captain), Kyoraku Shunsui. Shunsui had raised his hat and smiled, asking Rukia what she looked so distressed about, and why she was wandering around in the dead of night.

Rukia had responded with an embarrassing 'eep!' because she had only realized they were there when the hair-faced man spoke. Both had laughed while her usually pale face began to burn. Nara had screamed for the Kuchiki to hand over her message, but Rukia had refused, snapping that she needed better proof then a big, fat speech about time and strings. Nara had had a silent fit in Rukia's head, but eventually saw the logic in the woman's words, and settled herself.

Now Rukia wished Nara would say something. She felt terribly alone, bearing the unseen spirit's words as a burden, and wanted desperately for someone to share her concerns with. Ukitake-Taichou would gladly listen to her story, she knew, but Rukia feared being labeled 'insane' when other Captains got a hold of the information. She could already see Kurotsuchi-Taichou fiddling with her head, frowning, then pushing her away with an insanely large smirk.

"She's definitely insane," He would say, taking pleasure in finally sending someone to the whacko bin. "There is no such thing as 'Guardian Spirits' or anything similar. Kuchiki Rukia has lost her mind."

She shivered. No way would she be labeled a nut by someone who had spent most of his life in the Maggot's Nest.

Turning another corner, Rukia found herself staring into the infirmary, her body farmed by the small, oddly shaped door-way. Out of all the paths dug out by the Shinigami, the Yon Bantai's (Fourth Division's) was the strangest; it curved in ways that seemed impossible for rock to do. Looking away from the odd rocks, she glanced inside, seeing nothing more then a few fold-out beds with white sheets spread across them. There was a Shinigami laying in every single one expect for the very last, where a brown haired woman was raised herself with the help of a Yon Bantai officer. She shook him off rudely, then stalked off to retrieve her katana.

Kuchiki Byakyua was in one of these beds—with only one leg accounted for. He lay in his bed like a corpse, staring at the ceiling, face lifeless. Renji was close by, talking softly with Unohana-Taichou's replacement—Unohana Miyuki—, whose face was hidden by shadows. Rukia stepped inside cautiously, careful not to make a single sound, and moved slowly over to where the red-haired Fuku-Taichou stood talking.

"…don't understand!" Renji was saying, his voice cracking with despair. "What do you mean by 'poisoned'?"

"Exactly what the word means, Renji-san." Miyuki said coldly. "He has been poisoned by the enemy, and I'm not sure if we can save him."

"Why didn't you sense it before?"

"It was hardly there at all. Just a few specks….but it grew. I don't know how, but unless-" She cut herself off with a small gasp of surprise when she saw Rukia.

Renji blinked in surprise, confused by her sudden stop, muttered a 'What' and then turned round; he looked like he could've had a heart-failure right then and there when he saw the blue eyed midget.

"R-Rukia!" He screamed. "H-How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long," Rukia snapped truthfully. "And I wasn't ears-dropping, if that's what you're thinking." Not so true.

Renji's amber eyes narrowed. "Saying that only makes you more suspicious!"

Rukia's eyes flared, and she readied her hand to break his nose when Unohana swapped personalities, and ushered Renji away; Rukia trembled in the corner, staring wide-eyed at the woman's shadowed face. Like the pervious captain, she could go from kind to evil in a matter of seconds, proofing that the two were in fact related. She was like a super hero in some ways, the way she could swap from one person to another; one moment, she was regular old Miyuki, sweet as honey, the next she was evil, with a face as black as death, and a smile as cold as ice. It was terrifying.

Recovering, Rukia skipped over to Byakyua's bed. His eyes weren't open anymore; they were sealed shut, and his breath was slow and even. He'd gone to sleep. The young Kuchiki sighed and knelt by his bed, seeing as there were no chairs; she stroked his oily black hair—which was spread out around his head—praying silently for a safe recovery.

"Nii-sama," She whispered, finding the strength within her to speak, now that they were alone. "What should I do? If Nara-dono is right, and Hitsugaya-Taichou really has been taken to another dimension….It just doesn't seem possible!" Her raven-black hair tossed as she sung her head back. "What should I do?"

Byakyua said nothing, but rather continued on with his sleeping, oblivious to his half-sister's inner turmoil. Rukia stared at him in dismay. Even if he'd had no positive comment on her predicament, he'd always said something in the past, whether it be a crud nod or a unimpressed 'hmph'. He was asleep, yet she'd still expected him to say something.

Rukia groaned softly, then hopped up and started towards the door, feeling helpless; she gave a small cry when something latched itself onto her arm, and pulled her backwards, its grip as strong as iron. Rukia spun round on her heel, hand flashing to her sword's hilt, and was about to pull it out when she saw what had grabbed her.

Hinamori Momo was awake, her brown, usually caring eyes wide and gleaming with insanity. Her mouth was a thin, straight line, colourless, just like her face; when Aizen had betrayed the Soul Society, Hinamori had sunk into a pit of despair, and now Hitsugaya—her childhood friend—had disappeared. After that, Momo had completely lost her mind, and swooped in and out of what little was left of her sanity at random times. Rukia felt a ball rise in her throat, choking her. How long had Hinamori been wake?

"H-Hinamori-Fuku-Taichou," Rukia whispered, trying to squeeze out of the woman's grip. It was unbreakable. "P-please l-let go! You're hurting m-me!"

Hinamori smiled—a freakish, almost devil-like smile that sent chills down Rukia's spin. "You said something about Shiro-chan," She whispered, pulling Rukia down to her bed level. Rukia had no choice but to obey. "What was that you said about Shiro-chan?"

She was insane. Completely and utterly insane. Rukia had never seen her like this before, even after Hitsugaya's disappearance. It was scary. "I…. I d-don't know, Hinamori-dono." Rukia stammered. "I h-heard f-from s-someone that-"

"LAIR!" She shrieked. She twisted Rukia's arm backwards to the point where it felt as though it would snap off; Rukia screamed, and pulled out her Zumpabkutou. Hinamori ha sat up, now, and lifted her other hand to hold back the Kuchiki's sword. The blade's point was forced to a stop in front of her stomach, and Hinamori held it there, squeezing Rukia's wrist and twisting her arm even further back. The scene could have been comical, if the Rukia's pain and Momo's insanity had not been present.

"Rukia!" It was Ichigo. Suddenly the orange haired teen was standing behind Hinamori, followed closely by Renji and Matsumoto. The strawberry blond smacked Hinamori's hands away, then grabbed the Kuchiki and dragged her away while Ichigo and Renji held Hinamori's thriving body at bay. She hissed and screamed and spat, flailing her arms out like an angry cat, trying desperately to hit one of the boys where it hurt. One of her sharp nails scared Renji's cheek, while her fist bashed against Ichigo's shoulder, but that was all the damage she was able to do.

Miyuki rushed in, and stuck some purple liquid into Hinamori's neck before attending to Rukia's arm and wrist; the arm was fractured, and the wrist was badly bruised, but other then that she was fine.

"What the hell happened!" Ichigo and Renji screamed together once Rukia's repairs were complete; she now sat upright in a bed beside Byakyua, both arms bandaged. She looked up from staring fearfully at Hinamori—whom was in a sleep much deeper then Byakyua's thanks to the medicine—and glared at young men.

"I was talking to Nii-sama, and mentioned Hitsugaya-Taichou's name!" Rukia snapped, choosing her words carefully. "I stood to leave and she snatched by arm and asked me what I'd said. I told her, she screamed at me, and then tried to break my arm!"

Both men withdrew, stun by the iciness in Rukia's voice. Ichigo was about to say something when Miyuki appeared from out of no where and smacked him over the head. "Get out!" She hissed. "No visitors till Rukia-chan has rested properly, and can move her arm without screaming. Now, out!"

Ichigo was about to protest, but Renji caught him before he could, an shook his head; Ichigo, seeing Renji wanted to say as badly as he did, reluctantly nodded back, and stalked out of the small room. He prayed Rukia would be alright.

* * *

**Sorry I took so long to update ^^; I had all these exams to study for (stupid half-yearly DX) and I didn't get any time on this. I'm sorry.**

**Anyway, I'd like to thank kitsune-chan119 for that nice, long review! It made me feel all warm inside ^/^ And thanks for pointing out my grammar….I'm not a very patient person, nor do I like taking my time on anything other then drawing, and I hate reading my own work XD So when I do—sometimes—reread it, I skip lots of stuff because I wanna get it over and done with.**

**I'll actually check and correct myself from now on, guys, and I'm really sorry if all those mistakes annoyed you. **

**I'll change the category, too, because I don't take any time on those either. Put the words in, then continue—that's what my brain likes to think. **

…**.**

**I don't know what else to say. I'll update quicker next time. **

**Till the next chapter, bye-bye!**

…

**Sorry to all people who like Hinamori….I don't like her much, so…..In the story she's…well….crazy…..**

_**Now **_**good-bye!**

**PS: The bit up the top was written as the ending of the previous chapter, but I put it here because I thought it made more sense. Also, sorry if the time-stream is a little outta whack. I'll fix that when I can—gotta study for my Japanese exam ;)**

**PSS: I forgot Unohana was dead (XD) so I replaced her with Miyuki-chan half way through that final bit. Sorry.**

**See ya!**


	9. Recording 12009

Chapter 8: Recording 12009

* * *

That night, Neji returned to the water's edge, and waited impatiently for Sajin, passing up and down, hands tied together behind his back. The moon shone brightly over head, illuminated his pale features, and the faint purple bags that were forming under his eyes; twice, now, he had gone to the lake and had been robbed of his sleep, not that he actually got any sleep when he had the chance to. Those guys…they'd made him sleep next to Choji…That loud, pig-like fool, talking and kicking about in his sleep…. Oh, how Neji hated him!

Sajin finally arrived, and almost got his head chewed off when Neji snarled at him like a rapid dog, demanding to know where he had been. Sajin apologized ten times, saying that he'd gotten lost, and then got stuck into business.

"Have you decided yet, Neji-san?" He asked, frowning worriedly as he remembered the boy's promise. Neji stiffened, then sat down.

"He tried to blow up Hinata-sama using a Slave Hunter as coverage!" He growled, skipping the man's question. "I thought he was supposed to capture her."

"The orders may have changed," Sajin said bitterly. "Aizen's mind is strange—and Hitsugaya will follow it no matter what. Aizen may not need Hinata-dono anymore, and now wants her head."

Neji pounded the ground with his fist. "I don't understand!" He howled, throwing his head up and glaring at the moon, hovering in a starless sky. Why would Aizen order Hinata's capture, then execute her death sentence? Neji just didn't understand. It didn't make sense—but Hitsugaya could fly as well. He'd seen him do it once before. Why hadn't done so to save Hinata-sama, when she'd been falling to her death? The boy gritted his teeth. Hitsugaya would probably say something like he didn't understand how he did it last time, and that he couldn't do it when he wanted to. What crap!

"It doesn't matter," Neji hissed. "We're supposedly leaving tomorrow at midday, but one of our companions is having a tantrum, so we may not." His face screwed up into a ball of annoyance as he imaged Yamanaka Ino's bright, cheerful face, daisy-blond hair glowing against her brilliant sky blue-eyes—that image of her may have been a little too precise, but Neji was precise about everything, right down the way people smiled. He couldn't help it.

"I see," Sajin murmured. "I'll wait for you and Hinata-dono, then. If not here, then I will just follow you. I have been doing so for quite some time."

Neji's grey eyes narrowed at the last part; he didn't like to think that this blind man had followed them so far, but Sajin claimed to be able to see the auras of living beings, and that of the non-living. Still, Neji couldn't help but feel disgusted. He was a genius, after all—how could he have not sensed Sajin's presence? "Yes. I'll find you either here, or a spot near our next camping spot. _Be there_, Sajin." Neji took on a hostile tone. "If Hinata-sama is in danger, I plan to save her. I do not wish to see her die or be captured just because you fail to complete your part."

Sajin's shoulders sank. "As would I, as would I…" He mumbled softly.

After a few more minutes of planning, Neji hulled himself up and left, leaving Sajin to his own, dark thoughts. He smiled as Neji's outline finally disappeared—things were going just as planned.

* * *

Hinamori stared up at the cave's roof, eyes dark and glazed over so that she looked as though she were still unconscious. She could hear Kuchiki Rukia's near-silence mumbling, muttering words which held no meaning as she slept in a bed surrounded by dirt; Hinamori did not like Rukia. She had spoken of Shiro-chan—she had heard her!—and yet refused to say anything. It was ridiculous! Poor, poor Shiro-chan….lost somewhere, without Momo….

He probably doesn't miss me, though, Hinamori thought sadly, tears welling in her eyes. She'd screamed at him only a few days before his disappearance; she'd even gone as far as to hold a knife at his throat, saying that Aizen may have done bad things, but he was still her Captain, and anyone who fouls her Captain should die. Before then, he had come to visit her whenever he had time, sitting by her bed whether she was sane or not, talking to her and telling her about the War and her soldiers. He'd been so kind to her, nurturing her like she was the child rather then he; a tear rolled down Hinamori's cheek. She'd been so cruel. How could she have done such things to her Shiro-chan? It was….insane, ironically. Pure insanity.

She rolled over and glanced at Rukia's bed, guilt building quickly in her gut. Perhaps it was better that Rukia didn't tell her what she knew about Shiro-chan….Hinamori could be sane one moment, smiling non-stop with her cheeks rosy-pink and her eyes full of life; the next her eyes were wild, her face was screwed into a ball of either hate or anger, and she was coming at you with a knife. Perhaps Rukia had been afraid of telling Hinamori….or, maybe, just maybe, she really didn't know anything about Shiro-chan, and she had been telling the honest truth. The Vice-Captain didn't think that likely.

Foot steps, close and getting closer, causing Hinamori to close her eyes and shrink further into her small bed. A white Haori flashed before her eyes just as they closed, and the foot steps suddenly stopped.

"Oi, Rukia!" It was Abarai-kun. "Wake up!"

Rukia made some weird noises—sleeping noises—then barked loudly, and, by Hinamori's reckoning, slapped Renji, for he made a strangled sound just after there was a loud _**smack. **_

"H-hey!" Renji screamed; Hinamori imagined a face to match the voice, and smiled under her blankets. "What was that for!"

"Renji!" Rangiku-san…was it? Hinamori hadn't actually heard for voice for a time now—not even when they'd saved Rukia from her fury. "Be quite, please!" She sounded tired.

"Please, Abarai-kun," Ukitake-Taichou? "Could you?"

Renji huffed. "Whatever!"

"Are you feeling better, Kuchiki-san?" Ukitake asked.

"H-Hai, Ukitake-Taichou!" Rukia stammered, embarrassed. "U-um, if I may ask, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you were doing," Ukitake informed her, his voice cheerful and father-ly as usually. "and to ask if you would like to come see Ichigo-kun off."

"Eh?"

"Ichigo and I are going to go get Inoue Orihime from the Real World!" Renji exclaimed, clearly annoyed by her ignorance. "Kurotsuchi-Taichou says we could die in the attempt. Now, are you coming or not?"

"D-die!" Rukia shrieked. "Of course I'm coming! Come on, Renji! Help me out!"

Rangiku-san made a sound, then began to chuckle. No-one else seemed to hear her, nor did anyone hear her mutter a few words—not even Hinamori, who was listening to intently that it hurt. As her interest dimmed, Momo settled herself, and allowed her mind to drift off. It was because of this that she didn't feel Matsumoto's hand brush the hair out of her closed eyes, a sad smile touching the blonde's lips. Hinamori and she had been friends at a time; perhaps, after this was all over, they could be again.

After being tapped on her shoulder by Ukitake, Rangiku stood and followed them out, Rukia hanging off Renji's arm as she struggled to remember how to walk.

* * *

"Why do we have to do this?" Ino complained to Hinata as the two girls gathered berries from near by bushes. "It's hard!" The blond threw a hand full of about-to-be-ripe berries into the half-full container at her feet.

Hinata's smile came naturally, even though there was no reason to smile with Ino acting in such a princess-like manner. "I-it's not that hard, Ino-san." Hinata said timidly. "It's b-better then having to go look for _live _food, right?"

"I guess so," Ino pouted, picking up her basket and moving past the silver eyed Hyuuga, blue eyes scanning the bushes for more fruits.

It was dawn, now, the sky an ever-lightening shade of pink-blue; the sun was climbing over the sky, racing towards the center, basking all beneath it in its golden light; Hinata's albino face was set aglow by the sunlight, her silver eyes shimmering like diamonds. The same effects had copied themselves on Ino's skin and eyes, though her blue ones could never even come close to matching that of Hinata's, something Ino knew very well. She was pretty, but Hinata would always be prettier—in her eyes, anyway.

In Choji's, Ino would always be prettiest. Speaking of Choji, he was standing close by right now, collecting herbs and what not just as the girls were. Kiba claimed not to trust Choji running around by himself because of when he was attacked by Hollows, but Choji knew the real reason. It was because he was useless to them, useless against Hollows, and useless to the Arrancar they were staying with; he'd been strong once, but not anymore. Not since the war began.

Mumbling to himself, Choji picked up the small basket and hurried away, leaving the girls to gossip among the trees. It nice seeing Ino-chan again, and Shikamaru, though Choji would have preferred him to have not come; things would only get rougher from here on out, and Shikamaru had a tendency to get lazy. Choji didn't want him getting himself killed because of it.

Hinata glanced up as Choji waddled away. As her silver eyes rested upon his leg, she frowned, remembering back when it had bloated and turned purple, back when their little shack had been destroyed. She'd thought about it long and hard, and could not understand how such a thing could happen—it was down right freaky.

"Hina-chan!" Ino cheerful voice broke into Hinata's thoughts. "Could you tell me what this thing is? It's purple."

Hinata spun round to examine the fruit Ino had found; after only a few seconds, Hinata announced the fruit was about to go off, and threw it into the brushes. The Yamanaka sighed, disappointed, then walked off to continue looking for fruits and herbs; Hinata watched her go, then sighed, and then drifted off into her own world.

* * *

Hitsugaya stared down at the rabbit's limp, bloody body, hiding the disgust he felt behind a pale mask.; its fur was snowy white, almost silver, even—just like his hair—which made the fact he would be eating it later even harder on his stomach. Pushing his concerns aside, the teal eyed body snatched up the body, and stuffed it into a small pouch bag tied to his side; Kiba would—sadly—be teaching him how to gut the thing later.

_Not nice is it, killing something so defenseless?_

Hitsugaya became stiff at the voice, his breath cutting short; for a moment, he stood unmoving, then shook himself and kept moving. His Inner Hollow had a very loud voice, he'd come to notice, and did not like being ignored for too long; it spoke to him sometimes, mostly when he was feeling down or sick, and never failed to make him feel worse. The boy often imaged punching his black haired twin in the face, and cracking his grey nose, but only got a few moments of satisfaction from that before remembering that they were just about identical—apart from their colouring. He ended up breaking his own nose, which made him feel sick.

"You got the rabbit, Toushirou?" An orange flash sped by, and suddenly Uzumaki Naruto was standing over Hitsugaya grinning like an idiot. The pouch-bag at his side was full, too, signaling that he'd already collected his prey.

Hitsugaya nodded, and then stood up, brushing dirt off his knees as he did so. He no longer wore his Haori as he once did; running around in the bush it would get caught on things, and Toushirou saw no point in wearing it anyhow, so, instead, tied it around Hyourinmaru's scabbard. The dragon spirit had not been happy about it, to say the least; he'd almost caused Hitsugaya to go deaf with his tantrums, demanding to know how the boy could use such an important grab for something so trivial as scabbard protection.

'_I don't see why I should wear it if all it dose is annoy me,' _Hitsugaya had argued meekly. That resulted in another round of screams, but eventually Hyourinmaru had clamed down.

"Good, dattabyo!" Naruto exclaimed. "We should head back, then. Hinata said she'd make us a good meal before we take off. Something small, so we won't get sick, but something good all the same!" His cheeks coloured faintly with lust as he remembered Hinata's cooking. His blue eyes began to sparkle. "If I'd known Hinata was such a good cook and was strong back before the war started, I would've asked her to marry me."

"You're thirteen, Uzumaki." Hitsugaya snapped, a little too icily, by the way Naruto withdrew. He quickly recovered, though, and returned to his sparkly-eyed self.

"I'm kidding!" Naruto sighed, waving his hand in dismay. "No need to get jealous, lover boy."

Hitsugaya flushed. "Wh-what's that supposed to mean?" He snarled, ears burning with embarrassment.

"I wonder…." Naruto said softly as he turned round; Hitsugaya made a move to grab him, but Naruto anticipated it, and charged off before Hitsugaya's hand had even gotten close to him. The Shinigami let out a low hiss of frustration, then raced after him, cursing under his breath. That blond fool! What'd he mean by 'Lover boy'?

Hitsugaya raced the blue eyed ninja, and would have beaten him there if the Arrancar hadn't appeared. Ulquiorra appeared from out of no where—literally—and preformed the same trick with his hand, causing it to appear at Hitsugaya's ankle within a few seconds. He grabbed the boy's ankle while he was in mid jump; his weight kept the silver haired boy's ankle in the one place, but not the rest of his body. That fell forward. His chin smacked against a tree branch, and then slipped off; pain racking his body and tears swelling in his eyes. Gah….it hurt….

Hitsugaya stopped himself from hitting the ground by throwing his hands forward, and catching the branch which his chin had hit; a vain in his head threatening to pop, Hitsugaya twisted his body 360 degrees, forcing Ulquiorra to release his foot or be slapped across the face with a dirty sole. The boy dangled from the branch for a moment, then pulled himself up in a circle, feet touching the branch's top lightly and soundlessly. Then he rounded on Ulquiorra, eye brows twitching.

"What was that for, Ulquiorra!" He snarled furiously.

Ulquiorra did not seem affected by his scream, for all he did was flick some dirt off his hand by jerking his fingers back and forth, then let his arm fell and held Toushirou with a steady stare. Hitsugaya shivered; Ulquiorra never blinked when he was staring someone down. He acted as though he could keep his eyes opened forever, just staring, drilling into your face with those emotionless eyes…..Eyes that happened to belong to the certain someone who had saved Hyuuga Hinata's life. Hitsugaya couldn't help but be gratefully—Hinata meant a great deal to him and everyone else—but it was still hard not to be freaked out by the black haired man. He had a frightening aura, the type that said he'd kill you without regret, remorse, or anything similar. It said you were worth nothing, that you were a pawn on his chess board, and he had the right to sacrifice you if necessary. It was scary.

"I need to talk to you." Ulquiorra said coolly. "If you will listen."

Hitsugaya sat down on the branch and began to massage his ankle, which had begun to sting. He sighed. "I guess. Shoot."

"Hitsugaya, I want to help you."

Hitsugaya blinked and looked up, his face a mask of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Kiba told me about the time when you were attacked by the Hollows," Ulquiorra explained. "You produced a dragon of ice from that sword of yours, and you were able to stay in the air for a number of minutes. Do you know how you did that, boy?"

Hitsugaya frowned and looked away, feeling uncomfortable; the fact that he couldn't answer the question only made it worse. The fight with the Hollows was a fading memory; he'd produced a massive amount of Spirit Energy, enough to kill a full-grown ninja if it was directed straight at them. Hyourinmaru said that was due to the amount of power he had displayed, and over time, it would stop happening

"No…I don't." He said finally. "I just….did it." What a lame excuse.

Ulquiorra nodded thoughtfully, a hint of emotion flashing in those dead, green eyes; as to what emotion it was, Hitsugaya was unsure of. "I will tell you what you did. You stabilized the Spirit Energy and Charka in the air, creating an invisible platform beneath your feet for you to stand on, causing those who look on to believe you are flying. To fly, what you must do is separate the Spirit Energy from the Charka, rather then making it so they can function together—it creates a battle between the two forces, stripping you of all weight and with it your need to obey gravity."

Hitsugaya blinked, unable to speak. Why was the Arrancar telling him all this?

"Spirits become mortal in this place," Ulquiorra continued, seemingly oblivious to the boy's puzzlement. "Because the Charka and Spirit Energy flow together, they become one with the world, and their aging slows or speeds up to match the rules of the world. In the World of Spirits—a thing a faintly remember—I would remain in the same shape for fifty years at a time, while a human would shrivel, rot and then die, as does every human. If I remain here, I too will shrivel, rot and then die. Where my consciousness will go, I do not know, but while I am here, I would like to be of some use."

"That's…" Hitsugaya mumbled. "…good…I guess. Um, why are you telling me?"

Ah! The point. "Hitsugaya, I want to help you control your powers—something which you clearly need to master, and quickly, if you want to protect Hinata. This means that Grimmijow and I will be traveling with you from now on."

Hitsugaya almost choked on the last few words. "E-excuse me?"

* * *

The earth almost seemed to moan as Mayuri activated the portal to the Real World.

Ichigo and Renji stood a little back from the orange eyed Taichou, each keeping to their own thoughts while their eyes continued to focus on the mass of swirling colours that was the portal's inners; it was sickening to look at, to glance at, even, but Ichigo couldn't help it. He'd be stepping into that vortex in a moment—if everything ran smoothly, that is—and would have to get used to the colours either way. Renji mumbled beside him, and tore his amber eyes away, his face pale. Ichigo brought a hand to his face to hide is ever-growing smirk; to think Renji_, a __**Fuku-Taichou**_, couldn't even _look _at the portal for more then ten minutes!

"The vortex is holding, Kurotsuchi-Taichou," A man with small horns sticking out of his head reported evenly, his eyes never leaving his screen.

"Good, good." Mayuri dismissed the report with a wave of his hand, and a small, barely audible murmur. His eyes were fixed on the portal. It was amazing! Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought the Gate Way would look like this, even if affected by Raven's dimensional barrier. There were colours he had never seen before swirling in the mass; truly an incredible sight—despite the fact his stomach was more then disturbed by it.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," He called, raising his hand and beckoning him over with his frighteningly large finger nail; he never looked away from the portal, even as Ichigo started stiffly towards him. Renji snickered at his discomfort. "Abarai Renji, too." His laughter died away so quickly Renji's throat was suddenly sore. He stalked up behind Ichigo, head down.

Ichigo expected the man to say something him, but instead he barked at the man with horns coming out of his forehead. "Akon!" He snapped. "Is it safe to travel through?"

"Not particularly, sir." Akon answered bitterly. "The vortex may be holding, but that doesn't mean its not unstable. The walls could collapse and swallow Kurosaki-dono and Abarai-Fuku-Taichou whole."

"Good enough." Mayuri said, then rounded on Ichigo. "Off you go," He commanded innocently, jabbing his long, thin, stark-white finger towards the portal. "Quickly now."

Ichigo made a strangled sound. "Didn't he just say that the portal could _**eat us**_!" Ichigo growled, the veins in his forehead throbbing with fear and annoyance, much like Toushirou's would when Rangiku 'forgot' to do her paper work and hid it under the sofa.

"Could." Mayuri snapped. "Now get going. I haven't the patience—or the time—to meet this open much longer. I'm working on something at the moment which could help us find Raven. And, also, just a word of warning. Go off the path, and you'll be sucked into raven's barrier. It's a very painful way to die."

Ukitake, standing by the lap's entrance, shuddered, and glanced at Shunsui, who was hiding beneath his hat. Neither had the courage to face the orange eyed Captain who was acting-god in this laboratory; not many did, this including the all powerful So-Taichou, the Captain-General. Mayuri had a way of making you feel small. So the two just stood there and watched, shivering in their boots, and praying silently that the captain-class officers would make it to the other side safely….or at least Shunsui was. Ukitake couldn't help but wonder where Rukia had got to.

"Ukitake-Taichou!"

Speaking of the devil! Ukitake glanced over his shoulder to see Rukia sprinting down the hall, clad in her Shinigami uniform, katana dangling from her waist. A small smile raised the Captain's cheeks. She'd been getting changed. Who'd of thought Rukia could act so very much like a girl?

"Have they left yet, Ukitake-Taichou!" Rukia demanded as she flung herself through the doorway. Seeing Ichigo and Renji, her face broke into a smile, and she darted across the shiny black floor, coming to a sudden yet graceful stop between the two. Shunsui grinned mockingly at Ukitake, teasing him for being forgotten by his officer so easily. Ukitake rolled his eyes, though his smile only grew larger. It was good to have friends.

"R-Rukia?" Ichigo stammered, shocked by her arrival. "Wh-what're you doing here?"

"She said she wanted to see us off." Renji informed him evenly, despite the fact his fingers were shaking. He turned to Rukia. "Thanks for coming, Rukia. It means a lot."

"Yeah, thanks." Ichigo put in.

"Your welcome." Rukia said. "But I'm not here to send you off. I'm coming, too."

It was good to have friends, but sometimes they went a little too far for each other. Ukitake—and several others people in the room—almost had a heart attack when Rukia had finished speaking, Ichigo one of these people.

"A-are you insane?" He choked. "You'll be killed!"

A vain pumped in the Shinigami's forehead. "And who says you will not die, Ichigo!" Rukia glared straight up at him, standing on the tips of her toes just to make her glare that much more threatening. The moment seemed to last a long time, the moment when they just glared at one another, going over the scenarios in which either one of them could die; then, without warning, Rukia rounded on Renji, who had just found his voice and had already planned out a short speech.

"Don't even think about it, Renji!" Rukia snarled, jabbing an accusing finger at the red-head's brow. "I _will not _sit here and wait for you guys like some….some princess! I'm not a little girl! I care about Inoue, too, and I want her to get here safely—as well as you two!" Suddenly she was calm, crossing her arms over her chest. "And, besides," She said sweetly. "Either one of you could last ten minutes without me babying you like your mother." She smirked at their furious faces.

"Kuchiki-san!" Ukitake exclaimed. Ichigo and Renji looked up, while Rukia turned round and let her hands fall by her sides. "There's a chance you'll be killed! And you're already injured! It's too risky!"

"Jyuushirou's right, you know." The flower-wearing Captain said quickly. "If your arm starts to hurt, you'll fall behind. Please reconsider—"

"You can't go, Kuchiki." Kurotsuchi said suddenly. They turned towards him in a hurry, having forgotten he was still there.

He frowned. "Yes, I'm still here. Anyway, you cannot go. We only have enough power to support two bodies, and though you'd only count for a half, it's still a half too many." Rukia's mouth twitched at his comments on her height. She wondered secretly if Nara could make up for that lacking half.

"But, Taichou—!"

"No buts!" Mayuri snapped furiously. "Kurosaki Ichigo, Abarai Renji, hurry up and get lost! You're wasting time!" He stomped away towards Akon, muttering angrily under his breath. Rukia looked as though she wanted to say something, for her mouth was open, but no words came out; instead, she sagged her shoulders in defeat, wished Ichigo and Renji a safe trip, and then retreated to where the Captain and his friend stood. Renji sighed, and then hurried towards the portal; Ichigo watched Rukia momentarily, frowning hard, and wondered if he should say something. He got no chance to, though, because Renji tugged rudely at his sleeve and ordered him to hurry up in a half annoyed, half terrified voice.

With one last glance at the woman who had unlocked his Shinigami powers, Ichigo followed Renji into the swirling vortex of colours.

Next thing he knew, the world was black, and he knew nothing more.

* * *

Aizen and Ichimaru had always discussed things together, but the fact that they were just about ignoring their new Espada pissed Aurelio off.

Aurelio was a young Espada—in fact, he was the youngest—with the body age of eighteen year old boy. His hair was short and black, growing in every direction but down; his eyes were golden, shimmering like diamonds whenever they caught the light; his skin was slightly tanned, contrasting sharply with his jet-black hair. He usually wore a Shinigami uniform, only everything which was black was now white, and anything white was now black. He loved messing things up, including the stupid Shinigami's look.

Aurelio was a likeable person, but his temper usually got the better of him, and this was one of those times. His Fraccion faded into the walls when he stormed by, fuming out of the ears; his cat-like eyes were scanning the halls, searching for the fox-like face which he was coming to despise.

At last he found it, sitting in a chair.

"Ichimaru-sama!"

Gin glanced up from the book he was reading and smiled as Aurelio approached—he even went as far as to wave. "Hello there!" He greeted cheerfully. "What can I do for ya?"

"Why have you and Aizen-sama been ignoring all us Arrancar!" Aurelio demanded, literally screaming in the ex-Shinigami's face, who flinched. "What are you two planning?"

"W-well…that's, sorta, _secret._" Gin stressed the word 'secret' as though he though Aurelio wouldn't understand. "Aurelio, Aizen-Taichou and I are planning something big….But, if you want, you _can _do something for us, if you want to please Aizen-Taichou…"

Aurelio's face lit up. "Anything!" The new race of Espada were brained-washed to think Aizen truly was God, there-for would do anything to please him—even Aurelio, who disliked Aizen and his posy like a working man hates bills.

Gin's grin grew. "Alright, then." He stood up, tossing the book aside. He hadn't been reading it, anyway. "Come with me."

* * *

Rukia stared at the footage in dismay. Ukitake stared wide-eyed into the monitor. Shunsui looked away, hiding below his hat.

"Play it again," Ukitake ordered, ignoring Mayuri's annoyed and disappointed gaze. When no-one moved he repeated the order, fiercely, to which Mayuri replied with a sigh and a small gesture with his hand; at the move, Akon leapt up and replayed the footage.

_Ichigo and Renji ran side by side down the tunnel. The tunnel was frighteningly dark, with purple slime oozing off the walls, along with other liquids and items that neither Shinigami dared look at for long. Their path was a stretch of light surrounded by darkness; they knew very well that if they strayed from the light, they would be eaten by the portal, and sucked into Raven's barrier. As Mayuri had said, it would be a terrible way to die. _

_They ran for what seemed like hours; eventually Ichigo slowed down slightly, wondering if they had gone the wrong way. He immediately realized how stupid the question was, since they had been going the same way since the beginning. He mentally slapped himself, and then charged to catch up with Renji, who was running at stop speed, desperate to get out of the spooky tunnel._

_Suddenly, the path gave a lurch. The walls groaned and moaned like a dying animal. Ichigo and Renji let out shouts of shock, and struggled to keep their footing. The path lurched away, tossing this way and that like an angry snake; Renji pulled out his katana and thrust it into the white floor below. He clung to it like a life line. _

_At first Ichigo thought that plain idiocy, but as the light jerked again he realized that it was the only way to keep his feet on the ground. Cursing, he grabbed Zangetsu and forced the huge tip into the white stone; after a few moments he was clinging to his gigantic sword as well._

_Then the path cracked; it was a small crack, at first, barely visible, but it got bigger very, very quickly. In seconds the entire path was cracking as it forked and jerked. Ichigo heaved Zangetsu out, terrified his sword had caused this, but that only made more cracks. The ground beneath his feet shattered, and Ichigo fell, Zanpakutou and all, into the abyss of darkness below, screaming at the top of his lungs. _

"_ICHIGOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Renji howled, only to have the ground fall apart beneath his feet seconds later. And then he was gone, too. _

_Kuchiki Rukia's scream could be heard, even though she wasn't on the other side of the camera. _

_**End of Recording, 12009.**_

* * *

**Gah! Short chapter -_- Sorry I took so bloody long to update…I had writers block, but I'm getting back on track! I re-wrote this chap twice, so please bare with me! DX No much happened in this chapter, though, apart from Ichi-kun and Ren-kun disappearing…More will happen later. I'm working on the next chap right now, so it'll hopefully be up soon! ^^ **

**12009 is just a random number. I have no idea how many recording May has, but I know there's more then that XD Leave me alone.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter ^^ I've started planning a bit more. It should get better….MUCH more HitsuHina action, too :P And sorry if it seems…strange. The timeline, I mean. I've always sucked at time lines…I'm getting better, though ^^; **

**People who want IchiRuki: 0 (XD This is fun.)**

**Bye-bye, and thanks for all the awesome reviews :D**


	10. Crunch the World Down

Chapter 9: Crunch the World Down

* * *

When Ichigo woke, every part of his body ached so badly he felt faint from the pain. Looking around, he saw he was laying on a road, the moon hovering silently above him in a sky of black, sprinkled with twinkling stars; Renji was lying face-down on the ground beside an apartment block. Someone was leaning over him, their long, orange hair falling about their shoulders to create a curtain, hiding its face…

Inoue!

Ichigo tried to move, which resulted in a painful crack as his bones jumped; he groaned loudly and fell back into place. Orihime looked up, having heard the noise, smiled and then hurried to his side, crying "Kurosaki-kun!" as she went. When she arrived, Ichigo was fading in and out of unconsciousness. Placing her fingers on her blue hair-clips, she cried: "Ayame! Shun'o!"

The two fairies appeared in a flash of orange light, circling the Shinigami's unmoving body as though searching for a comfortable place to hover; once found, orange light stretched over the gap and the healing process began.

Inoue hurried closer and crouched by her fairies, placing her hands against the shield out of habit. "Will he be okay, Shun'o-kun?" She asked softly.

"Yeah!" Shun'o replied in his high, woman-like voice (it was very easy to believe that Shun'o was a girl). He glanced over his shoulder and smiled at Orihime. "You'll see, Orihime! He'll be fine in no time!"

"I-Inoue…." Ichigo's voice was faint and shaky, but still loud enough to be heard. Inoue instantly forgot she was speaking to Shun'o, and flickered her head towards the boy of her dreams.

"H-hai, Kurosaki-kun?"

"Wh-what happened?" He breathed. "I….I thought I died…."

"Y-you did," Inoue whispered, shuddering at the memory. Ichigo made a strangled noise, his eyes wide with shock. "And so did Renji-kun. A hole appeared in the sky, and you guys shot out of it. You rolled across the road, and didn't move. I panicked. I ran up to you and tried to wake you up, but….you just l-laid there. I-I screamed and tried to wake you up again by banging your chest. I…I don't know how, but you revived. Renji-kun, too." Orihime shook, clasped her hands together and looked away; it hurt to remember. Ichigo's eyes, blank and lifeless, staring unseeingly at the sky. She hadn't paid much attention to Renji's condition, but she was disturbed by the thought to him being dead, too.

"W-whoa…" Ichigo mumbled. For a moment, he seemed lost, far away even, but returned to earth quickly; he twisted his head round and smiled at Orihime. "Thanks, Inoue."

Inoue flushed and looked away. "I-I d-didn't do a-anything, Kurosaki-kun!" She stammered, embarrassed. "U-Um, Kurosaki-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"What exactly happened to you guys?"

It took about fifteen minutes for Ichigo to explain what happened, for it hurt to speak; Ishida and Sado appeared in that time, Ishida pushing his glasses up the rim of his nose, Sado holding up his head and murmuring "Hmmm" as usual. Sado did not wait for Orihime explanation to what was going on; he just picked up the two barely unconscious Shinigami, and carried them inside her apartment. Ishida helped Inoue to her feet, and then followed Sado inside. The giant Mexican dumped Ichigo on the sofa and Renji in a fluffy chair, leaving no space for anyone else to sit down. He and Ishida then turned to the teenager girl, looking for a reason as to why two Shinigami were lying bloody on her front lawn.

Orihime sat them down on the floor, and then explained. Ishida sighed and pushed up his glasses, which shimmered in the apartment lights. "I see." He said fatter-a-fact-ly. "If Kurosaki believes the portal attempted to eat him, he is either going insane or Kurotsuchi Mayuri had something to do with this." His glasses flashed lamely.

Sado scratched his chin, and Inoue forced a smile.

"Hmm…" Sado mumbled.

"I d-doubt Kurosaki-kun is crazy, so….Kurotsuchi-kun must've had something to do with it!"

"I'll explain." All three whipped round to see Abarai Renji hobbling slowly towards them, supported by his Zanpakutou's materialized form. The human one, consisting of a woman with long, pink-brown hair, and a small boy with red hair and a snake tail; the woman supported Renji by throwing his arm over her shoulder, while the young boy just stood their, eyes drifting about the small room with little interest.

"Abarai!" Ishida exclaimed. "You shouldn't be walking around—!"

"He's fine!" The woman snapped angrily, letting Renji down as she spoke. "Now listen to what he has to say!"

Renji told his side of the story, and the three teens cringed.

"How can you still be alive!" Uryu demanded.

"Don't know." Renji said honestly. "I don't bloody know."

"…I forgot to mention." Inoue said softly, and all eyes fell on her.

"What?" Renji asked.

"There was…was a little girl standing beside you bodies before I got there."

Amber eyes widened in shock and surprise. "A little _girl_?" Renji stressed, as though he found the idea impossible. Which it was. How could a little girl have seen them? Sure, Kurosaki Karin was able to see spirits and she was only eleven, but her brother was a powerful Shinigami who, for many years, could not control his Spirit Energy and let it leak all over the place. She and Yuzu would have been affected—but a random little girl?

Orihime nodded. "I saw a little girl. I didn't see her face, but when I walked up to her she flinched, and then ran away." The teen pattered her cheek. "I wondered if there was something on my face, but I went inside and checked _everything, _so I know there wasn't. Then I changed, and then changed again, just to be sure." A childish smile rose her cheeks. Her five friends just stared.

Renji hung his head as Inoue began to explain—with great detail—about her encounter with the black cat which she'd seen tip-toeing—or paw-toeing, as she out it—about her bathroom. He could've sworn he'd heard Ichigo groan. Sado's face hadn't changed an inch. Ishida actually looked as though he was interested in what Inoue was saying.

This was going to be a _long _night….

* * *

"I only have one more question…" Choji's voice was shaky, cracking at key points and forcing him to cough every few minutes to clear his throat. "…why is Grimmijow coming with us, if he hates Ulquiorra?"

Grimmijow picked up a stone and threw it at the ninja's head. Shikamaru lifted a foot and kicked Choji out of the stone's path, looking annoyed and board at the same time. "I told ya twenty times!" Grimmijow hissed. "I'd die from annoyance if I stayed there with Harribel and her freaky Fraccion!"

Apache balled her fist and glared at Grimmijow. "No, you wouldn't. You'd _**die **_from my blade slicing your throat open!"

Harribel closed her eyes and shock her head. Mila-Rose made a 'hmph' sound. Sun-Sun didn't seem to care.

Now a little past mid-day, the small group of Ninja and one Shinigami had packed their things, eat their meal and were ready to go. While slurping down Hinata's stew, talk about Ulquiorra and Grimmijow companying them to the border had been the hottest topic. Naruto had almost killed himself laughing when Hitsugaya had mentioned it, believing it to be a joke; Kiba had laughed, too, but no-where near as loudly as Naruto. When they discovered he'd been telling the truth, both boy stared at him as though he'd suddenly grown two heads.

"Are you serious?" Naruto had said. "They're coming with us?"

"Yes!" Hitsugaya snapped for the hundredth time.

"We don't have enough food for two more!" He exclaimed.

"Well, they don't eat, so we'll be fine." Kiba's joke was the only thing that had stopped Naruto marching up to them and telling the Arrancar that they could not come.

Switching back to the present, Hitsugaya sighed, and adjusted Hyourinmaru's strap. He didn't see what they had to worry about—he was the one who was going to be training with Ulquiorra, after all. He shuddered at the thought; Ulquiorra was a hard person by personality. How hard would his training be?

Hinata's feelings were mixed when it came to Ulquiorra and Grimmijow traveling with them; on one hand, she was pleased how the group was getting larger, while, on the other hand, she was worried about the food supplies, and about the fact they were Arrancar…She hated herself for thinking that. She'd just spent close to a week living with Arrancars of all ages, yet she still had the guts to say she couldn't travel with them because they had holes in their chest. She found it disgusting and cruel.

"Come, guys, don't fight!" Kiba shouted from his perch in the trees above. Akamaru barked his agreement loudly. "We better get going, too! By the sun's position, I'd say its 2:00! Let's go!"

Hinata looked up and nodded. Glancing round, she saw Harribel and her Fraccion standing in a line, watching them with sad eyes—or, at least, Hinata _thought _they were sad eyes. Hollows had a way of deceiving you when it came to emotion; they could change their face at a moments notice, transforming the emotions shown into something completely different. It was scary, sometimes, especially when they used it to their advantage. But Hinata was pretty certain that the sadness in those eyes was genuine.

The lavender-eyed Hyuuga walked over to them and bowed, thanking them for their hospitality and kindness, as was proper. Then, as she straightened, she was crushed in a sudden embrace from Apache.

"You be careful!" She hissed. She sounded angry, furious even, but the hint of compassion in the voice was enough to make Hinata smile.

When Apache pulled away, Mila-Rose patted Hinata's head, grinning, and Sun-sun lowered her arm—timidly, for she had yet to get used to such an action—and smiled softly.

"Have a nice trip, kid." Mila-Rose said. "Don't let Grimmijow get you lost."

"I w-won't," Hinata laughed. Then she turned to Harribel. "Thank you for everything."

Half of Harribel's face was hidden by her white jacket, so Hinata never got to know if the blond woman had smiled or not, but the spark in her green eyes made her feel warm all the same. Harribel didn't say anything, either—she just nodded, her golden bangs sliding off her shoulder.

"See ya, Harribel! Mila-Rose! Sun-Sun! Fang-girl, dattabyo!" Naruto's voice was high and cheerful, cutting into the peaceful scene like scissors to paper. Apache screamed at the blue eyed boy and, shaking her fists in the air, dared him to come down and say it to her face.

Come down…

Hinata spun round and saw that the boys—and Ino, of course—were already in the trees, waiting for her to follow. Grimmijow and Ulquiorra were still standing on the ground, Ulquiorra emotionless as usually, Grimmijow looking annoyed and impatient, tapping his foot and burying his hands in his pockets.

"I-I've gotta g-go!" Hinata said quickly to the female Arrancar. "Good bye!"

And then she was gone, jumping lightly into the trees and landing silently. She passed Hitsugaya, who flashed her a smile; Hinata blushed, but she didn't stop, afraid she would do something stupid. Hitsugaya quickly wave to Harribel and the others, then took off after Hinata, Kiba and Neji following close behind.

Ulquiorra looked up as the kids left. Grimmijow huffed a 'Finally!' and then zoomed off after them.

"You're going too, aren't you?" Harribel asked, her voice calm and collected as usually. Her arms were crossed over her chest, giving her a threatening look—then again, Harribel always looked threatening, good mood or not. "You should hurry."

"I was only thinking," Ulquiorra mumbled. And then he, too, had disappeared, seemingly into thin air. The Fraccion were left dazzled unable to keep up with his movements as Harribel had. The blond Arrancar sighed, let her arms fall, then turned around walked away, towards her cave. As she got closer, she saw the note Stark and his crazy, green-haired Fraccion had left for them. She tore it off the rock face and read it for the seventh time.

_Sorry, Harribel. Me and Lilynette are heading out. We've always been like this, moving from place to place, so please don't be angry. _

_Please survive till out next meeting. I'm lazy, yes, but there is something I want to say to you before I part with this world._

_Take care of those kids._

_Stark._

Harribel stared at it for a long time before screaming and ripping it into pieces.

* * *

Rukia sunk into her hospital bed, chest heaving as she suppressed her sobs. She wanted to scream. She wanted to weep and wail. She wanted to hit Ukitake, Shunsui and Mayuri for not letting her go. She wanted to slap Ichigo for worrying her and Renji for disappearing. She wanted to scream at Hitsugaya for disappearing. She wanted to smack Byakyua till he woke and head-butt him for being such a jerk and leaving her alone. So many feelings, so many desires, all bottled up in her little, shuddering body; it was all too much.

Rukia wanted so many things that she wasn't even sure what she wanted. But one thing was for sure. She wanted to tell someone about Nara. It was eating her up inside, which was one of the reasons she'd wanted to go with Ichigo and Renji; she felt she needed to make up for not telling anyone about Nara, for keeping her a secret. Nara claimed to know where Hitsugaya was. How could she possibly keep something so huge a secret? They needed him more then ever—Matsumoto being the one who needed him the most! Rukia rolled over and buried her head in her pillow.

What was she going to do?

She glanced over at Byakyua, laying unmoving in his bed. His face was facing up-wards, unseeing eyes staring at the rocky ceiling; Rukia had never realized till now, but Byakyua really was a good-looking guy. His nose wasn't too long or pointy, nor was his face, his eyes weren't too big or small, though they were a strange colour…then again, who didn't look a little weird in the Soul Society? Rukia's eyes were huge, Renji's eye brows looked like black lightning, Matsumoto's breast were as big as heads, and Ukitake had white hair.

And Ichigo…

Rukia almost stood up and slapped herself. Why was she thinking about Ichigo now, of all times? She had more important thing to do, like get better and think about how she was to handle the Nara problem. And yet…

"Ah, for the love of God!" Rukia screamed, jumping out of her bed and banging her fists against the wall. Byakyua's nose twitched.

"R-Rukia-san?"

Rukia almost fainted with shock when she heard the voice of the Jyuu-bantai's Fuku-Taichou, Matsumoto Rangiku. She spun round and stared at Matsumoto, who was standing in the infirmary's oddly shaped door, one hand on the cold stone, the other hovering at her hip. She was giving her that 'keep-it-up-and-I'll-think-you're-crazy' look, so Rukia invited her in an sat down, bowing her head in half-hearted apology. Matsumoto frowned, but dismissed her actions and fell down beside her, back against the wall, knees pressed against her chest. She wrapped her arms around her knees and sighed, a sigh which was mimicked in Rukia.

"I'm so tired," Rangiku whispered, rolling her neck so that she could look at Rukia and smile. Rukia smiled back. Matsumoto really did look tired; there were bags forming under her eyes, her skin was pale and her hair was starting to look like a rat's nest. Her Shinigami uniform was marked with dirt and grim, and her Fuku-Taichou's bag was nowhere to be seen. "I've been worried ever since Taichou disappeared….Soi Fon-Taichou isn't even looking for him anymore. It's horrible! And now, Ichigo and Renji…" Her voice trailed away as her head fell. "Oh, God…"

Rukia sniffed. "I know how you feel." Her eyes fell. "I feel like screaming."

The blond chuckled bitterly. "Don't we all?"

Rangiku reached out with a shaky arm and clasped Rukia's small shoulder. Rukia cried out as a volt racked her body, causing her eyes to water and head to spin; Rangiku's shriek was barely audible in Rukia's ears. Her head hit the pillow and she laid there, dazed, and unconsciously began to search for Nara's voice…

She couldn't find it.

_Nara…? _Rukia called. No response. _Nara! _Still nothing.

Oh God, what now? Where had Nara gone? Snapping back to reality, Rukia scrambled to her knees, and looked around as though expected to see a strange woman standing in the center of the room.

Matsumoto, meanwhile, was crushing her temples with her fingers as she pressed against them. Pain….So, so much pain. She felt like tearing her hair out just to ease the pressure on her skull. If it got any worse, and was confident her head would explode. What was that jolt? It hadn't felt like static electricity. A shiver—no, a chill ran down her spin, and, suddenly, the pain was gone.

Matsumoto looked up, stunned into silence. It'd just vanished. What in the world…?

**Well, well, well, what do we have hear? A Shinigami from the Jyuu-bantai—at last! I bet that midget wasn't expecting me to do this! **

Rangiku froze.

There was a _voice _in her _head_!

…**Oh no…you gonna panic, too, then? Please don't. Just ask Rukia what I am—I've spent quite a lot of time explaining it to her. My name's Nara, by the way. Guardian Spirit. I don't care if you don't know what it means. Ask Rukia.**

"R-Rukia-s-san…" Matsumoto whispered.

Rukia's head whipped round. Her violet eyes widened when she saw how pale Rangiku had become. "Ah! Are you alight, Matsumoto-Fuku-Taichou? Your face…"

"Th-there's a voice…..Nara's inside my head." Rangiku growled. "What is going on, Rukia?"

"…..Nara's where?"

_Fifteen minutes later…_

"So…let me get this straight. Nara is a Guardian Spirit, who knows where Hitsugaya-Taichou is and how to get to him, and she came to you in the form of a…Chappy the Rabbit Doll?"

Rukia looked up from her feet, eyes filled with shame, and nodded.

"And the reason you didn't tell anyone," Matsumoto continued. "Is because you were afraid of being labeled insane like Hinamori—and because you thought no-one would believe you?"

Another shameful nod. Hearing it out loud, it sounded ludicrous. But sometimes the truth is unbelieveable, she told herself firmly.

"Ah…." Matsumoto fell back onto Rukia's head and sighed. She dropped her head into her hands and closed her beautiful blue eyes, thinking hard. She could understand why Rukia hadn't told anyone—the situation she'd been forced into had been an extremely stressful, trying to decide whether or not Nara was telling the truth, and if anyone would be believe her—but she couldn't help but feel a little annoyed that news of Nara's knowledge had reached her after such a long time.

There was one that she was overjoyed about, though.

Nara knew where Hitsugaya-Taichou was.

"M-Matsumoto-Fuku-Taichou…?" Rukia said timidly. Rangiku opened her eyes and looked up to see Rukia standing over her, watching her intently with those huge, violet eyes of hers. Eyes full of concern and hope, hope that someone would finally help her.

**Will you go to this Mayuri person? He should be able to open the portal.**

Matsumoto flinched. Damn that Nara…..Didn't she have any compassion at all? Give me a chance to get used to you, at least! Don't speak so suddenly! Rangiku thought furiously.

Then she looked up at Rukia, hands falling into her lap.

"…We should tell Ukitake-Taichou," Matsumoto said finally, ignoring Nara's annoyed sigh. "He's an understanding man and will hopefully believe us, if we say it 'sane' enough."

"Alright."

Matsumoto stood up and brushed dust off her lap. When she looked at Rukia, she saw the young woman was staring at Byakyua, who was still deep in his sleep; thinking of sleep, Matsumoto glanced at Hinamori, who was sleeping just as deeply as Byakyua—or appeared to be. She could fool you quite easily these days, especially if she was having one of her 'whacko moments'; she found it necessary to wait and listen to what you have to say, in case you mention her Shiro-chan.

And then she'd cry or attack you, saying either that Shiro-chan hated her now, or that you knew where Shiro-chan was. Just like with Rukia…

"We'd better go," Rukia said suddenly, causing Matsumoto to jump. "Miyuki-Taichou will back soon, and if we don't visit Ukitake-Taichou before then she'll tie me to the bed."

"Neither one of you will be going anywhere."

The two women almost jumped out of their skins; spinning round, Matsumoto's hand flashed to her sword, ready to fight. She froze when she saw who it was. Rukia made a strangled sound, her eyes widening.

"S-Soi Fon-Taichou!" She breathed.

Soi Fon looked from Rukia to Matsumoto and back again, her black, narrowing eyes filled with a merciless glow. Matsumoto swallowed. So much for not being labeled insane.

* * *

The sun beat down upon the companions mercilessly as they leapt from tree to tree, branch to branch, sweat trailing down their cheeks and glistening on their brows.

Hitsugaya had never been good with the heat—well, for as long as he could remember, which wasn't much. He had a terrible fear of fire, and apparently his body had a terrible fear of the heat; it weighed him down like cylinder blocks. Every drop of sweat that slid off his chin felt like a whole liter of water sucked from his body. After about an hour or so, he was beginning to slow, and this did not go unnoticed—by Neji, especially. He noted carefully that the 'traitor' did not do well in the heat, and thought about ways he could use such a weakness against him.

Hinata noticed, too, and slowed down to match his pace. She was shocked to see how red his face had become in the short time that they'd been running for.

"Hitsugaya-kun," She said softly.

Hitsugaya glanced towards her. "N-Nani (What)?"

"A-are you alright…?" She asked. "Your face is very pale."

"Y-yeah. I-I just don't do w-well in the heat." What an understatement that is, he though wearily. This heat is killing me!

Hinata watched him wearily, growing more concerned by the minute. Back when they'd been with Harribel, he'd been able to walk around without a scarf in the bitter cold, while she and the others had looked like potatoes they were wearing so many layers—now, the tables had turned. Hinata unconsciously reached out and placed her hand on Hitsugaya's arm, squeezing. Hitsugaya's muscles tensed at her touch, but she didn't withdraw as she had expected herself too.

Turquoise eyes rolled in their sockets to stare at her worried face. "Please," She begged. "Let's stop."

Hitsugaya's cheeks coloured and he looked away, slowing his pace as he did so. Hinata, seeing he was stopping, dashed away and told Kiba her fears. The black-eyed dog-ninja glanced over his shoulder at Toushirou, and frowned. Was that a frown of disappoint or concern, Hitsugaya wondered silently.

He suddenly felt ashamed. But how could he have refused her, when she was looking at him so desperately…?

"Guys, let's take a break!" Kiba called, waving his arms rapidly.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief, and collapsed onto the branch he'd been standing on, a relaxed grin spreading across his face. "Finally, dattabyo! This heat's horrible!"

"Oh, shut up." Shikamaru grumbled as he landed next to Naruto, hands in pockets. Ino hopped down next to him and grinned mocking at the blond boy.

Naruto grinned back.

Hinata darted back to Hitsugaya, and pushed a hand to his forehead without warning. She frowned. "Y-you're burning up, H-Hitsugaya-kun."

Hitsugaya flinched at her touch; his skin burned and prickled, forcing him to grit his teeth in shock. He was sun-burnt, no doubt, after about an hour of running under the hot sun. Hinata withdrew her hand with a soft gasp, surprised by his reaction.

"D-did I hurt you?" She asked softly.

"I'm sun-burnt," Hitsugaya said quickly, putting a hand on his cheek and flinching yet again.

"Oh," She mumbled. "I thought y-your cheeks w-were just flushed."

"He is better sun-burnt then flushed."

Both Hitsugaya and Hinata's hearts skipped a beat when they heard the foreign voice. Hitsugaya spun round, fuming, and saw Ulquiorra standing behind him, face blanketed by shadows. How the emerald-eyed man always managed to stick to the shadows, Toushirou did not know and, frankly, at the moment, he didn't care in the slightest—all he wanted to know is how (and why) Ulquiorra was able to sneak up on him without his notice.

"How do you do that!" Hitsugaya snarled, voicing his question.

Ulquiorra did not reply in the way he would've wanted. "You will learn in time, if you allow me to teach you."

"That's _not _an answer!" He pressed.

"Don't bother!"

Hinata cried out and threw herself onto Hitsugaya's arm, clinging to it like a life line. Hitsugaya's head whipped around and—for the second time—he saw an Arrancar had appeared out of no where, this time behind Hyuuga. Grimmijow smirked mockingly at Hinata's reaction.

"Anyway, like I said, don't bother." He continued, blue eyes staring Toushirou down. "There's no point in asking—you might as well be talking to a brick wall."

Hitsugaya glared at the blue haired man, then at Ulquiorra; neither one glared back, or made any attempt to apologize for startling them. In fact, now that he had nothing else to say, Ulquiorra just shuffled past them and started for the others, calling for Grimmijow over his departing shoulder. Grimmijow let out a low, angry grow, but followed obediently after a short time.

"…Are you okay?" Hitsugaya asked after a time. "They're gone; you can let go now…."

She looked up at him, looking confused, then followed his gaze and saw what she was going. Hinata was still clutching his arm firmly, her body pressed against his. They were so close…

Hinata's face turned bright red faster then Hitsugaya could blink. Then she was stumbling away, stuttering out apologies at a rapid pace and begging for his forgiveness.

"I-It's okay, Hyuuga!" Toushirou said quickly. In truth, he hadn't really wanted her to let go and probably would've let her stay there for much longer if no-one had been waiting for them; because of that, he felt somewhat responsible for her embarrassment. "Don't apologize! C-come on, the others will be waiting."

* * *

Zaraki Kenpachi hadn't been heard from in a quite a while. Most assumed he was dead—exactly what they assumed Hitsugaya Toushirou to be as well, whom had disappeared long before he.

Raven hadn't meant to keep Zaraki so long, but, in his state, it had been unavoidable. Even after a few weeks of healing, his body still refused to move, his muscles screaming in protest if he tried doing something as simple as twitch a finger. Sometimes when he looked down at his beaten and battered body, he smiled, thinking of how powerful Hitsugaya's Bankai could be if fueled with the right stuff.

Like anger, or rage.

It seemed funny, sometimes, that Hitsugaya had loathed him so, even without remembering who Raven actually was. If he'd remembered who I am, Raven wondered, would he have begged me to stop this, or would he have killed me?

Anyway, Raven had not meant to keep Zaraki so long. The giant man was dragged to his chamber once every day where Edward and Mariah would be waiting, ready to torture information out of him again and again. Raven hated the very idea of torturing someone, but it was necessary—till, of course, he got a message.

It came on a screen, flashing urgently, so that he was forced to look at out of curiosity. He barely used the computer Mariah had stolen, and never thought he would; it was a strange creation bordered in strange purple stuff that blew out steam and made disturbing gurgling sounds when touched. It was clear it had come across the void and into the dimension, but as to what dimension it came from, he couldn't be sure of.

_Raven-sama._

_I am Kiyomi, Eighth Espada working under Aizen Souske-sama and head of the research department. I discovered how to send messages across the void and, under Aizen-sama orders, I was to send this to you._

_Aizen-sama wishes to work with you. He understands that you have, at the moment, almost complete control of the Seireitei and have the Shinigami on the run. He has a project going on here involving Ninja souls and Hollows. _

Raven paused his reading and gasped. The Ninja World? He had never been there, but Mariah had several times and had informed him about much. The place was thick with Hollows, the air heavy with the scent of fear and death, the people dangerous and reckless; a world almost impossible to enter because of the build up of Charka and Spirit Energy, constantly battling each other for control. It had taken Niko-Shou eight days to figure out how to open a portal to that world and keep it open. What was Aizen Souske—the run-away traitor to the Shinigami—doing in such a place? Curiosity tearing him apart, Raven read on.

_The project it going smoothly. _

_There is another project, however, that he believes could destroy all the Shinigami if completed. It involves a Ninja girl with strange Spirit Energy and well-controlled Charka. She is protected by several Ninja, Arrancar and a single Shinigami. Slave Hunters have already attempted to capture her, but the attempt failed miserably. _

_Aizen Souske-sama is requesting a partnership for his benefit, and yours as well. He asks for you assistance in capturing her. To reply, merely write another message on the screen and click 'send'. The rest of the plan will be revealed to you if you agree._

_End._

After finishing the message, Raven called for Edward and Mariah and showed them the strange message. Mariah, of course, demanded that he delete the message and let her destroy the computer. Aizen Souske, in her opinion, could not be trusted and needed to be dealt with. Edward, however, seemed to think Raven should go along with Aizen for now and discover more about the man's 'project'. According to Mariah, Hitsugaya had been attacked by many Hollow, Arrancar and a Shinigami with silver-purple hair wearing white. Edward thought that there was a large possibility that the girl Aizen was after had been traveling with Hitsugaya that day, meaning if they followed Aizen, they would find Hitsugaya.

Once he'd finished talking, Mariah seemed much happier to oblige, grinning madly and staring at the screen, the thought of finding Toushirou filling her with a frightening happiness. Edward's face was blank as ever.

"Alright," Raven said after a time. "I will reply to Aizen with a 'Yes'."

Since it was too painful to type, he got Edward to write his message after sending the green eyed female away.

_Aizen Souske, I will help you—however, at the moment I am in a terrible state and cannot move without groaning. A man called Edward to writing this message for me._

_I already have a way of getting to the Ninja World, so don't bother sending over instructions. Please tell me more about your project. I believe the Shinigami she is traveling with knows me._

_Raven—Edward._

Once the note had been sent, realization popped into Raven's mind—concerning Zaraki Kenpachi. Now they had another way of finding out what they wanted, and the battle-loving Shinigami was no longer needed. Mariah seemed to have realized this, too, for she was jumping from foot to foot, glancing eagerly from the blade hanging off her side to the door.

Raven sighed. "First, find Niko-Jou and bring her here, _then _and only then may you go and depose of Zaraki."

* * *

Stark and Lilynette traveled side by side under the blistering sun; Stark had thrown his coat over his Fraccion long ago to protect her from the sun's rays, despite her protests, and later complaints that it was too hot wearing it. She was beginning to fall behind, the Arrancar noticed wearily, the length of which her foot travels becoming shorter, her breaths becoming deeper and more desperate.

Even traveling under the canopy of trees it was terribly hot. Stark knew they needed to rest, or, at least, Lilynette needed to rest soon.

"Let's stop for a bit," He said after about twenty minutes. "It's too hot."

"NO!" Lilynette spat. "I can still walk, Stark! Don't treat me like a damn kid!"

Stark rolled his grey eyes. Some children just refused to act like _children_ and do as they were told—and his Fraccion just had to be one of them. Why couldn't she have been like that Hinata girl, soft and quiet and willing to help, no matter what the request was? Oh well…

"Please, Lilynette." Stark pressed—in a board voice, of course. "It's too hot—and I'm not treating you like a kid. _I'm _the one who's tired."

Lilynette glared at him for a short time, then shrugged, and stalked over to a near-by tree. She threw his coat off and snuggled against the cold, mossy bark, a look of bliss creeping across her face. Stark allowed himself a small smile as he sat down. Claming he was the one with the weakness was, sometimes, the only way to get Lilynette to do something she wouldn't normally do.

They sat there in silence for about five minutes, Stark staring at the sunlight flittering in between the leaves above. The next time he looked at Lilynette, she was asleep, snoring softly. She'd somehow made her way over to him, and was now clinging to his white jacket. He shook his head and looked away.

"'Don't teat me like a kid', she says…" He said softly, careful not to wake her.

Time trickled by, and before long Stark found his mind was drifting back to Harribel. She was such a strange woman, with her unique perspective on the way the world works, her talk of sacrifices. She—sometimes—made it sound like the world was nothing more then a sphere of misery, and that no matter where you went or who you were, that misery would find and devour you eventually. She said such things, yet could not remember her past. Her history was waking one day beside a brook wearing a white vest, baggy pant and a sword at her back, and being surrounded by three other women, all unconscious.

Stark, unlike most people, saw logic in the way she looked at things. He was a lonely man, even with Lilynette, who, despite her loud shouts and cheerful grins, was just as lonely as he. They only had each other—the world was against them. They'd been together for as long as they could remember, and beyond; they shared that same feeling, that they were meant to be together, forever, and always had been. They lived for each other.

What did Harribel live for? With all her talk of sacrifice and justice, could it be that she was really just as lonely as he? Could that powerful expression that she always wore just be a mask, hiding her true feelings?

Had she been sad when he left?

Stark wondered about that far too much. Muttering and oath, the grey-eyed man quickly pushed the subject from his head and tried to find something less depressing to think about.

It was because he'd cleared his mind for a short few seconds that he heard the crunch of leaves cracking under foot; that he heard the quick, shaking breaths of someone trying to conceal themselves; the sound of cloth brushing against the bare trunk of a tree. He let out a long, low sigh.

Someone had been following them.

The heat had acted as a curtain, hiding them from view; Stark's eyes had been glazed over, eye lids dropping from time to time, as he fought the heat. Lilynette was too small and weak to fight it, and had immediately begun to fall behind. Following them would have been easy, with the two in such a state.

He glanced towards the source of the sound. It was getting closer. Slowly, perhaps, just it was definitely getting closer.

Should I attack? He thought. Or should I wait till they get here….? Better to wait, he told himself. There's not point in showing that I realize they're here.

So Stark went back t staring at the sky, waiting patiently for the unknown creature to reveal itself.

* * *

**Well, there ya go :D Finally did another one—a longer one! X3 **

**It's the holidays now, so I really should've finished this quicker DX but I'm lazy—like Stark—and couldn't be bothered to do anything. Btw, the title 'Crush the World Down' is the title of a chapter from Bleach, or something similar, and I used it because I couldn't think of a name for the chap.**

**So, after god knows how long, Kenpachi's mentioned again~ I will keep mentioning him~ And, of course, Ishida, Inoue and Sado came into the story. Can't have a Bleach story without the original crew.**

**Anyway, I hope you all liked the chapter~ I went over most of it and checked my writing. And have I really been calling Neji 'Neji-NEE-san'? Sorry….I mean to call him 'Neji-NII-san'. **

**Thanks for reading! X-] **


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